


Drifting Away

by Skycarma



Category: Lego City Adventures (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28093986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skycarma/pseuds/Skycarma
Summary: Not long after a failed heist, Daisy accidentally exploded a portion of the apartment and gets kicked out by her mom. She must find a new place to stay, and an item to steal to get herself back on her feet.However, Duke learns some news about Daisy that will change her plans...
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. A Place to Stay

**Author's Note:**

> So this story has spoilers from season 1 and season 2 of Lego City Adventures. Also I'm done writing this story and will probably post a chapter every other day just cause I want this story to be out! Some more important information, this story is a lot more dramatic and written differently from the actual show. Younger audiences should be careful because there is some blood and really intense scenes. (I try not to go into too much detail, but there is still at least one moment of blood. But don't worry, lots of the story isn't that dark and serious). 
> 
> A huge shout out to my sister who helped me edit this story. She's a true lifesaver! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!

Daisy was led through the jail hallways by a guard, her handcuffs fastened over her wrists. Other inmates often complained about the tightness of the metal handcuffs, but Daisy hardly even noticed they were there. She was really used to the whole jail thing.

As was her habit in jail, Daisy had been running through the heist she’d been arrested for, and thinking about where things went wrong. The heist was two days ago, when she and Snake had tried to use Tread as their getaway in order to steal the money from the airport. It was pretty obvious why this plan hadn’t worked out; Tread hadn’t been pleased to discover he was part of the heist, and had literally driven them into jail. Daisy completely overestimated his competitive streak.

At least he hadn’t been arrested too. Unlike Daisy and Snake, Tread probably had a clean record, minus some speeding tickets. Jail was no place for him.

Daisy looked up when the guard stopped in front of a door. The guard pressed a button, and the door opened, revealing the outside courtyard. The dead grass fields and tall concrete walls were just as Daisy remembered them. The guard led Daisy through the door and took off the handcuffs before taking her place near the doorway. Daisy wandered around the courtyard for a bit, when she spotted Snake Rattler sitting on a bench. That was one of the perks of breaking laws with accomplices; it made jail less lonely. She sat in the empty spot next to Snake.

“I see we have the same yard time.” she said. 

Snake only glanced at her, and didn’t say anything.

“Well, at least we only have, like, 30 minutes until we get out of this place.” Daisy said to try to lighten the mood.

Snake seemed troubled. “We shouldn’t even be here. Our heist would have been successful if Tread hadn’t messed everything up.”

Daisy felt slightly defensive. “Yes, Tread was a bad idea. I know. But, hey, at least now we know to be careful before we bring others into our heists.”

Snake looked at the ground. “There’s something I still don’t understand. You were totally fine manipulating Tread as part of our plan, yet you got angry with me when I was trying to use Dirty Duke for my own plans. What’s the difference?”

_Dirty Duke._ Just the memory of what Snake had turned Duke into made her uncomfortable. “Snake, you can’t just manipulate Duke when he’s in a vulnerable state!” Daisy couldn’t believe she had to explain that to him. “Besides, robbing banks goes against everything he stands for.”

Snake squinted his eye at her. “ If you're so against using people in ways that go against their standards, shouldn’t the same go for Tread? Might I add, using him was _your_ idea.” 

“Tread and Duke are different.”

“So what makes Duke so special?” Snake said.

His bitter tone took Daisy aback. Why was Snake so upset about this? “Duke and I...we go back. You just shouldn’t mess with him, ok?”

“I don’t like you telling me what to do. You may have some sort of loyalty to him, but I don’t. Besides, it’d be one thing if you were mad at me for manipulating both people, but it just seems hypocritical when Tread was your idea.”

“You know what Snake, we shouldn’t have manipulated Duke _or_ Tread. Both situations were wrong. I’m sorry, ok?”

“Maybe you’re sorry, but don’t expect me to apologize for what I did.”

“Even though it went against your code?”

“Leave the code out of this.”

“Well then you should leave Duke out of this. If you mess with him again, I’m warning you, I won’t hesitate to tell the cops on you again.”

“Again?” Snake bared his teeth in anger. “You mean, YOU’RE the one who ratted me out to the pokey?”

Daisy winced. She hadn’t meant to give herself away like that, but maybe it was better this way. She needed to get it straight with him that Duke shouldn’t be messed with. The last thing she wanted was for Dirty Duke to reappear, and turn against the city Duke tried so hard to protect.

Snake growled. “I can’t believe you’d go behind my back for a lawman.” He shook his head, then turned his gaze toward the ground. 

Daisy left Snake to his sulking, feeling a little bad for what she’d done. But it wasn’t like she owed Snake her loyalty. She didn’t have nearly the same extensive history with him that she did with Duke. 

She and Duke had been close friends as kids. They practically did everything with each other. Their friendship continued into high school, where they were considered by others to be the “weird kids”. But it hadn’t mattered what others thought because they had each other for company. True, they were prone to fights. They were so different that they fought fairly often. Duke had always been the rule-follower, while Daisy had always been the rule-bender and rule-breaker. But fights were a part of any relationship, and she and Duke had always worked through them. 

It wasn’t until college that they went their separate ways. Daisy dropped out when she felt like college wasn’t fitting for her, while Duke went on to the police academy. As a fresh college dropout, she’d needed money and couldn’t find an honest job, so she turned to crime. This had led to an awkward encounter when Cadet Duke had been the one to arrest her. Their relationship had never been the same since. It was like Duke was unable to see past her crimes and see that she was the same person that he’d been friends with. 

Going through her happy memories with Duke made her realize how much she missed being friends with him. He was the only person she’d ever felt close with. Well, there was also her old partner in crime, but she tried not to think about them. They had been transferred to another prison, where the sentences were longer. Daisy hadn’t seen them for years, and probably wouldn’t see them again for many more years. 

Besides her ex-partner and Duke, everyone else just seemed distant when she spent time with them. No one quite understood her the way they had.

It was just too bad she couldn’t explain any of this to Snake. He was a loner by nature, and he wouldn’t understand. Daisy’s thoughts were interrupted by the prison guards approaching them. 

“Alright you two, it’s time to go.” a guard said.

Daisy got up from the bench, followed by Snake. They followed the guards back through the prison courtyard entrance, back through the dull gray hallways, and into their changing rooms. After Daisy got back into her normal clothes, she was escorted out of the jail gate. Snake was already outside the gate, walking down the sidewalk, and he didn’t stop to say goodbye to Daisy. That was pretty typical for him, even during the times he wasn’t mad at her. 

Luckily for Daisy, her place was literally across the street. Unluckily for her, she’d have to face her mother’s disapproval and anger again. That was a worse punishment than jail ever was. She reluctantly entered the apartment complex and waited for the elevator to her floor. She didn’t like that she had to live with her mom, but she didn’t have enough money to find her own place and support herself, especially with the housing market being what it was. It really didn’t help that Daisy couldn’t find a career, either. While she tried stealing money to make ends meet, that money usually seemed to make its way back to the police station. 

She arrived at her destination and opened the door, bracing herself. Her mom was standing near the doorway, as if she were expecting her. Her mom’s height dwarfed Daisy’s, and her dark brown shoulder-length hair was slightly frazzled, matching her expected look of anger.

“Are you kidding me, Daisy? You got yourself in trouble again?!”

“Sorry.”

She glared at Daisy and continued her tirade. “‘Sorry’ doesn’t cut it. I never raised you to be like this! Why can’t you just get a job like a normal human being?”

“You know why I can’t get a job!” Daisy snapped. “ I’m just going to blow everything up! Don’t you remember what happened to that coffee shop?”

Her mom closed her eyes, putting her fingers to her forehead. “I can’t handle this right now. Just go to your room.”

“Fine.”

Daisy turned away, fuming. She hated living with her mom. She was treated like an incompetent child, made to feel like she was her mom’s worst failure in life. Her mom thought Daisy was just making up excuses for why she wasn’t employed, but in actuality, no place wanted to hire her. Due to her destructive tendencies, companies simply did not have the insurance to keep her. And she had to admit that robbing places was pretty fun. She had no boss to tell her what to do, nobody to impress. Besides, she was Daisy “Kaboom” after all. Crime basically felt like part of her identity now. She reached her room and closed the door. 

* * *

  
  


Daisy groaned as her alarm sounded. She rolled over and reached to turn it off. She didn’t realize how close she was to the edge of her bed and nearly fell off. That forced her awake. 

She got out of bed and rubbed her eyes, slowly walking to the bathroom. Since her jail time two weeks ago, she’d fallen right back into her usual morning routine. 

She turned on the bathroom light and was slightly shocked to see how she looked. Her hair was practically sticking straight up, and dried mascara smeared under her eyes. She washed her face, and tried to slick down her wild hair, but it bounced back like a spring. The last resort was to try to brush her hair and hope that’d tame it. After, struggling and cringing through the knots, her hair finally seemed to be back to normal. 

She walked over to the closet and quickly glanced over the outfits. She had a black fancy dress with a fire design along the rim. She never wore it. What would be the occasion? She had some athletic clothes, but she wasn’t planning on going on a run. She even had an old jail jumpsuit that she forgot she kept after she broke out of jail one time. Sure, it would be helpful to return it, especially because she lived across the street from the jail, but it would be a very awkward conversation considering she was a pretty regular inmate. Plus, they’d probably try to charge her for it. It was just easier to leave it to become forgotten in her closet. 

None of those options compared to her classic red leather jacket. The design of the bomb on the back was basically her logo, and alongside her ripped jeans and striped shirt, it perfectly fit her style. She rarely wanted to wear anything else for her day to day activities, especially since those activities usually involved blowing stuff up and doing illegal things. She took off her tank top and sweatpants, and put on her striped shirt, red jacket, and gray ripped jeans. She tightened her spiked belt to the right notch and put on her black boots. All that was left was to put on her choker. With her look complete, she made her way to the kitchen for some breakfast. 

She grabbed a pan and turned on the stove top. She opened the fridge and grabbed two eggs for her to cook. With a simple tap on the rim on the pan, the eggs cracked open and spilled their contents onto the pan, sizzling on impact. She turned to the pantry to grab some bread for toast, but as she did so, a loud boom went off behind her, rattling her eardrums. She cringed and slowly turned to see the damage. 

She gasped. The stove looked like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. Shattered plastic and glass littered the kitchen, and there was a gaping hole where the stovetop had been. Black soot singed the wall around the stove. Sure, this hadn’t been the first time Daisy had blown something up in the kitchen, but those explosions had only destroyed the food she was cooking, and maybe a pot or pan. The damage had never been this severe.

“Again Daisy?” Her mom came running into the kitchen. “How many times do I have to tell-”

She stared at the remains of the stove in shock. “What happened?!” 

“I don’t know!” Daisy said. “I was just trying to cook eggs, and then your stove exploded!”

“You think this isn’t your fault?!” Her mom’s face reddened. “You’re always blowing things up, and now you’ve gone and destroyed my new stove! Don’t you know how _expensive_ that was?!”

“I’m sorry, it was an accident!”

“That’s it! I’ve had it! You have one week to get out of this house! I can’t keep up with your explosions!”

Daisy was stunned. “What? Are you serious?”

“You heard me!” Her mom folded her arms. “Enough’s enough!”

Daisy spluttered. “Wait! Where would I go? You know I don’t have any money!”

Her mom scowled. “Well maybe you should’ve thought about that before you decided to become a college dropout!”

“Just give me a year, alright? I’ll have money by then!” At least, she hoped she would. The only way she really made money was through her various crimes, but so far, most of them had been unsuccessful. But at least a year would give her more time to figure something out, and maybe she’d have at least one successful heist by then. 

Her mom shook her head. “I’ve already given you too much time! You’re 26 for crying out loud!”

Daisy tried to calm her mom down; she obviously wasn’t thinking rationally. “Think about this, Mom. Where can I go? I have no money, no extended family, not even a car. Just a motorcycle.”

Her mom gave her no remorse. “I don’t care! Leech off one of your friends!”

“What if none of them let me live with them?” She could feel her panic growing. Her mother seemed completely beyond reason.

“Then sleep outside.”

Daisy couldn’t believe it. Her own mother didn’t care if she was homeless. There was absolutely no way she could make enough money in that time to get her own place, not even if she set her bar as low as possible. And it was obvious her mother wouldn’t budge. 

Daisy stormed out of the apartment, feeling tears of frustration stinging her eyes. She slammed the door and even kicked it on her way out. Once she was outside the apartment complex, she stopped, taking a deep breath to try to drive back the panic and anger she was feeling. 

What was she supposed to do? She started walking, but didn’t have a clue where she should go. Who did she know who might offer her a place to crash? She went through the list of people she knew. She didn’t have any other family who could help her. There was Snake, but things weren’t looking great with him, after their argument. Maybe there’d be a better option. She’d done many robberies with Hacksaw, Betty, Vito, Frankie, and Clara, but they were more co-workers than actual friends. And that was it. She couldn’t think of anyone else who might help her with her situation.

Daisy shivered as a cold breeze flooded over her. She didn’t realize how chilly it was outside with it being the end of winter. That made things worse. She didn’t know how she’d survive with it being cold. She shook away that thought and made her way to a place on the outskirts of the town. She now had an idea of where to go. There was no time to waste. 

* * *

Daisy approached the large steel building. It mostly consisted of massive garage doors. Daisy had a hard time finding any sort of entrance when she spotted red steel doors off the side of the large garage door. She went up to them, unsure of exactly what she was supposed to do. Knock on the door? Ring a doorbell? Perhaps there would be some crazy security mechanism? She inspected the area, but found nothing. There was just a doormat that read “DO NOT STEAL (that means you, Tippy)” . She knocked on the door and waited for a moment. The door opened a crack, and she saw a pair of eyes squinting at her.

“Daisy?”

The door opened wider to reveal Hacksaw Hank holding a hacksaw. “What are you doing here?”

Daisy put on a chill smile, trying to hide her desperation. “Oh, you know, I was just around and wanted to see what you guys were up to.” 

Vito’s voice came within the hideout. “Hacksaw, who’s there?”

Hacksaw turned behind him to address Vito. “It’s Daisy.”

Frankie perked up “Is she here for game night?”

Hacksaw turned back to Daisy. “Wanna join us for game night?”

Daisy was glad it was game night; it would offer an excuse for why she came. “Sure, but it’s not exactly night.” she said, looking at the blue sky overhead.

Hacksaw chuckled. “When we play card games, it always goes until night.”

Daisy did the math. Sunset wasn’t until seven hours, which was longer than most of Judge Strictpunish’s sentences. They were ridiculous, but at least they seemed friendly with her. 

Hacksaw cleared the way to allow Daisy to enter their hideout. Inside stretched a fairly large, open room that resembled a garage, but with better insulation. The huge monster truck that they often used in heists was parked to her right. To the left of the truck was a small table that Vito, Frankie, and Big Betty were sitting at. The far wall held a few doors that lead to other rooms. This whole place reminded her of the fire station.

Hacksaw led her to the table so she could be seated with everyone. Big Betty greeted her with a smile, Frankie waved, and Vito was busy shuffling cards. Clara sat next to him, looking bored. As they waited for the cards to be shuffled, Hacksaw brought out a bowl of candy. He scooped out a handful and stuffed them in his mouth. 

He held the bowl in front of Daisy. “Want some?” A few jellybeans flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

Daisy shook her head. “I think I’ll pass.”

Hacksaw put the bowl in the middle of the table. The others were attracted to the candy like a magnet. Vito finished shuffling the cards and passed them out quickly to each player. He then explained the rules. “The game is Go-Fish. Whoever loses has to clean out the monster truck.” Daisy took a look at her cards and smirked when she saw she already had a match. As the game continued, Daisy tried to start a conversation. 

“So do you guys always hang out like this?”

Betty responded as she was looking through her cards. “Pretty much. Fendrich hates it when we mess around when he has a job for us, so he gave us this place to let us mess around during our free time.”

Daisy chuckled. “I remember when Fendrich wanted to make me a permanent part of his team. But I found it much better to do my own thing.”

Vito raised his eyebrow. “Do you have more successful heists when you work alone?”

It pained Daisy to think of the truth. She had not made even one completely successful heist in a while. If she had, then maybe eviction wouldn’t be a concern for her right now. “Well, not as often as I’d like. Have you guys had successful heists?”

Hacksaw gave Vito a card and spoke. “We’ve had maybe a few, but most of it goes to Fendrich. But in return, he gives us stuff like this hideout. So it kind of balances out.”

Daisy didn’t like the idea that the only way to be a successful criminal was to work under some corrupt businessman. But she had no other options. “So, do you guys actually live here?”

Frankie, who still had no matches with his cards, spoke. “I mean we have our own places where we sleep, but we spend most of our time here. Plus, sometimes we have sleepovers here!”

Vito rolled his eyes. “Those weren’t sleepovers! I accidentally fell asleep and you guys pranked me in my sleep!”

“Sounds like a sleepover to me!” Hacksaw said with a giggle. Clara rolled her eyes, but had a small smile on her face.

Vito set down his last two cards and folded his arms in his victory. Clara followed right after. Vito looked over her cards in suspicion before putting them down in resignation. Clara had been known to cheat a few times before, but this time she passed inspection. The game continued, and luckily Daisy was the next one to win. She was not going to clean their truck. Next Hacksaw won, leaving Betty and Frankie. The round was quickly over with Betty as the winner. They all handed Frankie a few rags and a bucket of soapy water. 

Vito waved him off. “Have fun!”

Daisy realized that she was as close to talking about the reason she came then she was ever going to get. It was time to drop the bomb. “So, I was sorta wondering… Do you guys think you’d have enough room in your team for one more person?” Daisy figured if they’d accept her as part of their team, they wouldn’t mind if she stayed here. 

Clara looked up, surprised. “Didn’t you just say you did crime yourself?”

“Plus,” Vito added, frowning, “If you were going to team up with anybody, I’d thought it would be that dumb cowboy.” 

Daisy shrugged. “I guess me and the “cowpoke” don’t really get along. But lately, I have been interested in being part of a team. Don’t you guys think you could benefit from using my dynamite?” 

What she was saying was a half-lie. She wasn’t really interested in being part of a team, but she was interested in the money that came with the team. But what she’d said about Snake was true. She would’ve preferred to see if she could stay with Snake, but he’d been weird ever since she confessed reporting him to the police. And he seemed perfectly happy being alone at his hideout. No, her only real option was with these people. 

Vito still looked suspicious about Daisy wanting to join their team, but Hacksaw responded to her request. “I mean it’s not really our decision, but I’ll be sure to ask the boss! He’s liked you on the team before, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t say yes.”

Betty chimed in, “ I think it'd be fun to have you on our team!” 

Vito still looked uncomfortable. He turned to Hacksaw, Clara and Betty. “Wait, could we discuss this first?” 

He grabbed Hacksaw, Clara and Betty and moved over to Frankie, who was still washing the truck. They huddled together like a sports team figuring out their game plan. Daisy wasn’t exactly sure why Vito was uncomfortable with her joining the team. They had teamed up before to do a few crimes and he had no problems then. After their discussion Hacksaw came up to Daisy.

“So, we decided we’ll ask Fendrich to see if you can join our team!” 

Daisy let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you. Oh, and if you could, please let me talk to Fendrich as soon as possible! Preferably sometime this week.” 

Hacksaw nodded, while Vito only suspiciously squinted at Daisy. 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys around.” Daisy made her way to the door. She may have hated Fendrich’s guts, but she still hoped he would let her be part of the team. It was better than sleeping out in the cold.


	2. Outcasts

Duke was patrolling the city with New Car. Doing police work with his car partner made the job much more enjoyable, even when things were slow. Like today. The city seemed oddly quiet. There always seemed to be something, whether it was Hacksaw, Vito, Snake or any of the other crooks. Sometimes, a new criminal would catch Duke by surprise. He remembered Tippy and Chester Teagle, ordinary citizens who hid their illegal actions behind the scenes. Hopefully Duke wouldn’t have to encounter any other unexpected criminals operating in the shadows.

Speaking of shadows, Duke saw movement in a darkened alleyway. He squinted through his sunglasses and saw Hacksaw maneuvering through the debris and boxes in the alleyway. That seemed quite suspicious. Duke backed up on the street so he wouldn’t be in Hacksaw’s line of sight. Hacksaw emerged and made his way towards the city park. He decided to follow behind Hacksaw to see exactly what he was up to. 

Hacksaw eventually approached Fendrich’s building. He looked around before entering, and jumped when he saw Duke. Guilt and fear crossed Hacksaw’s face. 

Now that Hacksaw knew he was there, Duke decided he would see what info he could get out of Hacksaw.

“Wow, Hacksaw. usually when I see you you’re carrying a big bag of money.”

Hacksaw shrugged as Duke got out of his car and approached him.

“So what exactly brings you to Fendrich’s building?” Duke asked.

“I’m here ‘cause I need to ask the boss- I mean… I just want to sell hacksaws to Fendrich.” Hacksaw looked sweaty and nervous.

“Uh-huh. And exactly why would Fendrich need hacksaws?”

Hacksaw was even more sweaty and couldn’t make eye contact. “Uhhhh, it’s a good business tactic?”

Hacksaw always seemed to say strange things when he was talking about Fendrich. And he talked about Fendrich way more than what seemed natural. It seemed almost as if he were working with the businessman, with how much Duke caught them interacting. 

A thought crossed Duke’s mind. What if that  _ was _ what was happening? Was it possible that the accusations Sinclair had constantly made to the police department were true? Was Fendrich a crook as well?

Hacksaw interrupted his conspiracies. “So, am I being detained?”

“Well, no…” 

Before Duke could say another word, Hacksaw swung open the door and scrambled inside the building. So much for getting any more info out of Hacksaw. Duke thought about what he should do next. Maybe he should see what the chief and captain thought about Fendrich being suspicious. 

He got into the car, buckled the seatbelt, and pressed the turbo button. He was simply too impatient to get around the city like any normal citizen. His car went flying up the side of a nearby building and he hurtled above the city. Traveling this way was much more efficient since he didn’t have to worry about stoplights and lanes. 

New Car landed with a crash right in front of the station, coming to an abrupt stop. Duke admitted that it wasn’t his finest landing—he’d almost hit the station—but at least he was here. He shoulder-rolled out of his car and into the station and almost collided with Tom Bennett. Duke quickly stood up and smiled at the captain as a greeting. Tom did not return the smile. He had his arms folded and was slightly tapping his foot on the floor.

“Lieutenant. We need to talk about your driving. First of all, your landing just now was, well, alarming. Second, Tommy’s foot is still recovering from you running over it yesterday, and let's not even bring up poor Garner. The people around you are not invincible, nor are you. I believe for everyone’s safety, we’re going to have to take away your new car. This car was gifted to you to make you a safer driver, but somehow it’s not effective.”

Duke blinked. “Captain, I understand your concerns, but New Car does make me a safer driver. Sure, it’s not perfect, but haven’t you noticed how my driving has become much safer since I got New Car? It’s anti-collision features help me avoid bumping into things like Mr. Producci’s fruit stand.”

Tom was unfazed by Duke's plea. “Well somehow it allowed you to run over Tommy’s foot. I think something may be wrong with the programming. Plus, is it really safer with you going 130 miles per hour with the rocket boosters? We’ll give your car back to Wexler and see what’s wrong. But until it’s been looked at, you can go back to your old car. Now, hand over your keys.”

Duke looked at the ground as he plopped the keys into Tom’s hand. Tom in exchange gave him the keys to his old car. None of this made sense. New Car was obviously a more suitable car for him. Why was it being taken away?

“Anyways, Lieutenant, why are you here? You’re supposed to be out patrolling until noon.”

“Well that’s what I was doing, but then I encountered Hacksaw. He was acting suspiciously at Fendrich’s building. He told me he wanted to see Fendrich, but couldn’t give me a convincing reason as to why. And, well, I’ve just been wondering. Do you think Fendrich could possibly be working with the criminals? It would explain all the crooks constantly entering that building.”

Tom shook his head and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “That’s nonsense. Fendrich is a trustworthy businessman. There’s no way he’d turn to crime. Unless you have actual incriminating evidence, I’d consider this conversation over.”

Nothing about his encounter with Tom was going well. Things never seemed to work out for Duke whenever Tom got like this. Duke couldn’t help but feel like Fendrich was working with the crooks. But Tom Bennett was right. Without evidence, there was nothing they could do.

“Also, Lieutenant, before you go back on patrol, I need to tell you some news.”

Duke turned his attention back to Tom.

“The Chief and I have decided that Daisy Kaboom’s on her last straw. She’s way too dangerous with her dynamite. If you see her, tell her that if she commits another crime, she’ll be sent to the harsher prison with her old partner. And warn her she won’t be coming out of that place in just eight hours.”

Duke felt his heart sink. Even though Daisy was dangerous, it would break his heart to lock her away for so long. If she was sent to the harsher jail, it could be years before he’d be able to see her again. But maybe it would be better that way. Perhaps it was for the best that his car was being taken away from him, too. All of this was to keep the city safe. That’s all Duke wanted. 

“I understand Captain. I’ll see about finding her as I finish patrols, if that’s alright.”

“Thank you Lieutenant.”

Duke sighed as he stepped outside of the station. He had to jerk his body away from New Car. He nearly forgot about his downgrade. As he stepped inside the less technologically advanced car, he wondered where he could find Daisy. He needed to break the news to her as soon as possible, before she broke the law again, otherwise his warning would be too late.

* * *

_ Buzz _

Daisy jumped as her phone buzzed in her pocket, turning her attention away from her packing. She’d forgotten her phone was even there, but now she quickly took it out of her pocket, with trembling hands. She sighed in relief as she saw the text message was from Jamieson, Fendrich’s right hand man. The text said that Fendrich wanted to speak with her at his office. Finally she may be able to secure a place with the criminals. All week, she hadn’t heard a word from Fendrich, and she’d had no choice but to cross her fingers that he would reach out to her soon. Today was her last day at her mom’s place, and she had been starting to freak out a bit. The timing of this text could not have been better.

She turned back to her room. She’d spent the past few hours deciding what items were absolutely vital, but after looking over everything, she realized that beyond a few essentials, there was nothing she thought was really necessary to keep with her. Barely anything in this house was hers, anyway.

She stepped outside her room and looked around at the apartment. Hopefully this wouldn’t be the last time she’d feel warm and sheltered. Daisy had been dreaming about the day she could leave for a long time, but of course, being suddenly evicted was not what she had in mind. She took a calming breath. She had the crooks now. She could make do.

Her mom was out running errands, but Daisy had no desire to wait for her. Her mom didn’t deserve a goodbye. Part of Daisy wanted to tell her off for everything she’d done, but maybe it was best to just leave. She closed the apartment door behind her with a sense of finality. 

Once she was outside, she made her way to her motorcycle and turned the ignition. Finally, she might be able to secure a place to stay.

* * *

Daisy pressed the elevator button to go up. As she waited for the elevator to finish its journey, she wondered what it would be like working for Fendrich permanently and living at the garage hideout. She finally arrived at her designated floor, and brushed back her hair. She approached the two brown inward swinging doors. Many times she had gone through these doors to await an assignment from Fendrich, which always required blowing something up, but back then she was her own boss. Today was going to be different. 

As she pushed on the door she was surprised to see Vito, Frankie, Betty, Clara and Hacksaw. They no longer had their welcoming expressions Daisy remembered from game night. Instead they were sneering at her, almost as if they were threatening her. She quickly adjusted her expectations to fit the uneasy tone. Shortly after Daisy had fully stepped into the room, they had cleared the way to reveal Fendrich sitting at his desk. He was leaning into his chair with his arms folded. As he made eye contact with her, he leaned forward and tapped his desk.

“Daisy Kaboom, take a seat,” he said sharply. 

He pointed at the other chair placed in front of his desk. As Daisy walked over, the crooks locked their eyes on her. Hacksaw held up his hacksaw, while Frankie was grasping a toilet plunger. Why would they suddenly turn on her? What would cause them to be angry with her? She pulled the chair away from the desk then sat down. Even though the scene was unusual and tense, she joked to try to ride it off.

“Wow, I see you brought the whole gang just to have a chat with me. I’m glad you decided to make this a full on party.”

Fendrich glared at her. He then waved his hands signalling Vito and Clara to close the doors and guard them.

“This is no party, Daisy. I believe you know why you're here.”

“Uhh, you’ve accepted me as part of your gang?”

Fendrich growled, “Surely you haven't forgotten about our last encounter?”

She couldn’t quite remember; all her heists blurred together in her mind. What did she do to get Fendrich this angry at her? She thought he would be thrilled to have a new member on the team, but instead, Fendrich was almost trembling in his anger. Like watching a ticking bomb, it was only a matter of time before Fendrich would explode in his rage. Watching anything explode entertained Daisy, but in this situation she needed him on her side.

“I’m not too sure… Was it the time you were craving Sinclair’s cookies and you had me infiltrate her place to steal them for you?”

“Not that!” Fendrich’s face grew red in anger as he slammed his fists against the table. He shook it so hard that the picture of him slamming the table fell off. Fendrich cleared his throat as he went to pick up the fallen picture. He then placed it back in its proper place on his desk.

“Last time we saw each other was when you were working with Sinclair and that wizard friend of yours, and that was when you blew up the deed to the city.”

“Oh that time…” It hadn’t occurred to Daisy how much that must have angered Fendrich.

Fendrich sat down again in his chair. “Daisy, I’m still mad about that. You cost me the chance to gain control of the city. Plus I still haven't forgotten about the time the scientists bought from Sinclair’s property because you planted literal daisies with poets instead of blowing up the warehouse.” 

He glared at her. “You owe me. Being in debt with the richest businessman in the city is not a good situation to be in. Luckily for you, I’m willing to make an offer.” He placed his finger on his chin as he continued speaking. “I heard that this Friday Captain Facepatch is planning on selling his treasure of golden door knobs to Shifty Buyerstuff. If you help me steal that treasure, then I will forgive the whole blowing up the deed fiasco.”

This seemed contradicting. Fendrich was threatening her, but yet he also wanted her to do a job for him? “So you want me to do a job for you as part of your team?”

“No. You will never be a part of my team after the stunt you pulled. This job will only be for my forgiveness.”

Daisy scoffed. “And why would I need your forgiveness if you’re not going to give me anything in return?”

Fendrich gave a sinister grin. “Because without my forgiveness, you become my enemy.”

Daisy frowned in annoyance. She didn’t owe him anything. She blew up the deed because the city didn’t belong to anyone other than the people. Plus, having Fendrich take control of the city would be terrible. There was no way on earth she’d accept this offer, even though her situation was desperate. Now that she knew there was no chance she’d be accepted with the crooks, she wanted nothing to do with him. 

“Yeah, I’m not going to do that. I don’t owe you anything.”

Fendrich shook his head. “ I figured you might say that, but if you decline, you and your cyborg friend better watch your backs.”

“Are you threatening me and Snake?”

Fendrich laughed in response. “Daisy, I am a businessman. Of course I’m threatening you.”

“Yeah? Well I’m not remotely threatened by you. Need I remind you of your Sinclair cookie addiction?”

Fendrich pointed at the door. “Get out!”

Daisy got out of her seat and made her way to the door. She couldn’t believe how completely that backfired on her. Vito and Clara cleared the way for her, but not without shooting her dark looks. She glared back at them, but their cold ruthlessness didn’t waver. She then caught Hacksaw’s attention. His expression changed to one of guilt and he looked down at the floor. 

Once she reached the hallway to get to the elevator, she realized she was out of a place to stay. She didn’t want to have to go begging to Snake, but honestly, after Fendrich’s rage, surely things wouldn't go as badly with him. She didn’t want to think about what she would do if Snake rejected her as well, so she turned her thoughts elsewhere. 

As she rode the elevator back down and made her way to Snake’s hideout, a plan started to formulate in her brain. Fendrich just told her valuable information that she could use to her advantage. If Captain Facepatch had treasure, she could steal it before Fendrich. A chest full of golden door knobs would pay very nicely, and all that money could be her ticket to buying her own place. This could be the heist that finally turned her life around. 

The only setback was that this was certainly not a one-man job. Maybe that’s where Snake could come in as well. Even if they couldn’t reconcile their earlier fight, Snake may be willing to work with her for the prospect of gold. She hung onto those thoughts as she hopped on her motorcycle and drove off to his warehouse.

  
  


* * *

“Hey Snake, I’m coming in!” 

Daisy learned it was always best to warn Snake before entering his hideout. There had been too many times where she’d interrupted his strange activities, like money baths or hula-hooping. She entered his hideout through the saloon doors. Snake luckily wasn’t doing anything strange, he simply appeared to be boiling water above a campfire. 

“Do you need to announce that you are coming in?” 

“Would you rather me interrupt your hula-hooping sessions?”

“Touché.”

Daisy walked up closer to Snake. He finished adjusting his pot over the fire and stood up to address Daisy.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Before I get to that, I just wanted to tell you that I really am sorry about our argument. I never meant to be a hypocrite by manipulating Tread. I won’t do it again.”

Snake adjusted his hat to cover his eyes more. “I guess we both were acting ridiculous that day.”

Daisy knew that was Snake’s way of forgiving her. She smiled at Snake, grateful he was willing to give her another chance. 

“So anyways, I’m here because Fendrich told me something interesting today,” Daisy said.

Snake let out a small chuckle. “I’m surprised anything that comes out of that guy’s mouth is ‘interesting’.”

“Yeah, well he told me that Captain Facepatch has a treasure of golden door knobs that he plans on selling this Friday. It sounds like Fendrich is going to try and steal it that evening. I was thinking we could team up and try to steal it before Fendrich can get his hands on it.”

Snake smiled. “I like the sound of that. We could get the loot Thursday night before Fendrich will even be there. You can use your dynamite to break in and steal the gold while I deal with the captain. Then we can split the loot between us.” 

They were interrupted by the sound of water sizzling. It had boiled over the pot, hissing as it hit the fire.

“Excuse me.”

Snake crouched down to the small fire and moved the pot away from the direct flames. He tossed in a few vegetables and meat. 

“Would you like to stay for dinner to discuss the plan?”

Daisy blinked, surprised at his offer. Snake seemed to be a bit cold and distant, but he was actually inviting her to stay, even if it was only to discuss their plan. But surprising or not, she would gladly take him up on that offer, since she had no other place to go. Perhaps, with how well things were going, maybe Snake would let her stay here for the night? 

“Sure, I’ll stay,” Daisy said. 

Snake threw in a few more ingredients to accommodate for Daisy. He grabbed a wooden spoon and began stirring. Daisy walked by a crate and sat on the floor with her back against it. She didn’t realize until she sat down just how cold it was. It was the tail end of winter, but the bitter cold season was still lingering in the air. The winter snow had all melted, but with the below-freezing temperatures, it was possible they could see flurries again. 

She folded her arms and scooted closer to the flames, trying to preserve her heat. Snake stirred for a few minutes until he dished up the soup into two bowls. He then moved closer to Daisy and sat on the ground by her. He handed her the bowl of soup.

“This should warm you up a bit.” 

Daisy accepted the soup. Her numb fingers tingled as they came into contact with the warm bowl.

Snake ate a spoonful of his steaming soup before speaking. “So, do you think you have all the dynamite you’re gonna need for this?”

Daisy hovered her face over the steam to warm up her face. “Of course. I still have plenty from the old Totally Dynamite Dynamite and Totaling Factory.” She stored all her dynamite in the sewers, so she didn’t have to worry about her stash after her eviction. Nobody would think to check the sewers, anyway, which made them the perfect place to hide away her explosives.

“Good,” Snake said. “We’re going to need a lot for this heist.”

Daisy dipped her spoon into the soup and scooped up a part that didn’t have onions. She wasn’t a fan of them. She could feel the soup making its way down her stomach, heating up her insides and driving the cold away. She couldn’t taste much of the soup through the heat, but it seemed to be fairly decent. 

She glanced over at Snake who was practically slurping down his soup. After a few gulps, he put his empty bowl down, signaling that he was done. Daisy had to hold in her laughter. The way Snake ate his soup was comparable to how an actual snake would swallow an egg whole. He wiped his face with the crook of his arm to get rid of the sparse droplets that were sticking to his stubble. 

“So… “ Snake said, breaking the silence, “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think you’re going to do with the loot once we get it?”

Daisy had to finish her gulp to respond. She felt slightly uncomfortable because that question hit too close to home, or rather, too close to her non-existent home. “Well for starters, I want to get my own place.”

Snake raised his eyebrow. “Oh? Who do you live with?”

Daisy let out a nervous chuckle and averted her eye contact. “I, uh, still live with my mom.” Or at least, she  _ had  _ lived with her mom. Starting tonight, she had nothing but her motorcycle, dynamite and the street beneath her. But before she could further explain herself, Snake spoke.

“So I guess you didn’t get some crappy city job as a teenager?”

“I tried. I worked at this small coffee shop until I got my hands on the coffee machine. Turns out coffee and electricity wires don’t go well together. I ended up “kabooming” the whole place. Same goes with every other job I tried to get. Each ended with some crazy explosion. Everyone called me Daisy “Kaboom” Lewis ‘cause I kept messing everything up. But after attempting to fit in where I didn’t belong, I tried embracing what I was best at. It wasn’t until I used my dynamite for crime that I realized that I really am Daisy “Kaboom” and I should be proud of it.” 

Snake’s expression slightly changed as Daisy spoke, and he looked at her with a small smile. She enjoyed his gesture, but she couldn’t help but cringe at herself. She definitely didn’t want to share that much about herself with Snake, but everything that had been on her mind lately, and with Snake’s surprisingly welcoming attitude, it just slipped out. But maybe this would be the way to tell him about her situation.

Daisy sighed before she let out the truth. “Snake, there is something else I left out. I don’t quite live with my mom anymore, today was actually my last day there. She… kicked me out,” Daisy felt very uncomfortable telling Snake all of this but still managed to continue, “I was wondering if you let me stay here, until we get the loot.”

To her surprise, Snake didn’t appear to be judgmental. “Sure, I’ve got extra blankets. The only thing is, you have to wash your own dishes.” He said the last part almost like a joke.

Snake stood up and grabbed a pitcher of water and some soap and started rinsing out his bowl. Daisy was very relieved that Snake was cool with her moving in for a bit. Even though this place was hardly a “home”, at least it had food, a roof, and a fire pit. 

Snake finished washing his dish and passed the water and soap to her. Washing her dishes by hand was actually preferable to using a dishwasher. When Daisy washed dishes with them, she would end up with water all over the place. Who knew that water could explode too? As she scrubbed, Snake continued their conversation.

“Well since it sounds like you could use it, I’ll let you take two-thirds of the gold. I should be good with what’s left.”

Daisy stopped scrubbing. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I suppose I know what it’s like to be an outcast. You need the money more than me.”

The fact that Snake could empathize with Daisy was really unexpected. “You mean, you’ve also been kicked out of places?”

“Well, sort of. Let’s just say that leaving my hometown wasn’t fully my choice. But that just gave me a reason to travel around.”

Daisy blinked. She had always assumed Snake wandered around because he wanted to. It had never crossed her mind that maybe instead, he was on a journey to find a place where he belonged. “Have you been to a lot of places?”

“Yeah. But I never stayed anywhere for long.”

“What about here? Are you planning on leaving?”

Snake turned his gaze towards the crackling fire in front of them. “Probably. I’m getting along alright, but a lot about the city confuses me.”

That sounded more like the Snake Daisy was used to, but it seemed out of the blue that Snake was already thinking about leaving. He had only arrived a few months ago. Daisy couldn’t help but want him to stay. She enjoyed doing crimes with him. And it sounded like they could relate to each other. Snake was the closest person to a friend that Daisy had at the moment. In fact, he was probably the only person who remotely cared about her. Unexpectedly, Snake continued to speak. 

“You know, you’d probably benefit from traveling, once we get the loot. You wouldn’t have to worry about kabooming coffee shops. If you come with me, maybe we’ll be able to find a place that suits us.”

Daisy thought about it for a bit, then shook her head. “Naw, I don’t think that’d work with me. I care too much about the city.”

Snake let out a small chuckle. “Ironic that you keep stealing from it.”

Snake grabbed the water pitcher and soap from her and put it away in a back room. He came back with a pile of blankets and plopped some on the ground in front of Daisy. 

“Here. Set up a place to sleep, if you’d like.” Snake said. 

He brought the rest of them over to the other side of the fire and laid them out in the ground. 

Daisy picked up the blankets and unrolled them. They weren’t particularly soft or comfy, but they would work. She placed them close enough to the fire so that she would be warm, but far enough away to avoid the stray embers. 

She glanced over at Snake who was on the other side of the fire. He took off his hat and placed it near his pillow. He then took off his eyepatch and placed it near his hat. A large scar ran over his closed eyelid, stretching from his eyebrow to the bottom of his eye. It seemed to have healed a while ago, but it still looked deep. Did he even have an eye under the scar? 

Snake settled into his blankets, and Daisy did the same. She wasn’t quite accustomed to sleeping with a fire, but it seemed like a normal night for Snake. It baffled her to think that this was the way he lived, with no air conditioning or modern commodities. He didn’t even have a permanent place to call home. And he enjoyed it? Her heart sank as she was reminded of his upcoming departure. She couldn’t keep anything consistent in her life, not even her friendships. 

She turned her body in her blankets so that she was facing away from Snake. Even though it was colder that way, it hurt her even more to be reminded that Snake was going to leave her soon. Eventually her thoughts were washed away by sleep.


	3. The Choice

Daisy woke up with a jolt. She had forgotten that she was at Snake’s place. She turned her head and looked across the extinguished fire, only to see the empty blankets. Snake must’ve left sometime earlier. 

She looked to the other side of her and saw a plate of hashbrowns and eggs. Did Snake make that for her? She picked up a fork and started to eat the food. It was fairly cold, but it satisfied her empty stomach. As she was eating she picked up her phone to check the time. 9 A.M. It was pretty impressive that she woke up at that time naturally. Normally without an alarm, she wouldn’t wake up until noon.

She was interrupted by the sound of a squeaky door opening. Snake came through the doorway holding various cans of Vita Rush soda. He gently set them down in a pile and looked down at Daisy. 

“I see you’re up now,” he said. 

Snake must’ve been out gathering extra soda in order to prepare for the heist. They had only two days until Thursday. Daisy quickly finished her food and set her plate down.

“Did you make this food for me?”

“No, it made itself,” He interrupted himself to laugh at his own joke. “Seriously though, I just figured it’d be easy if I just doubled the recipe. It’s no big deal.”

But the fact that it was Snake who made the food was a big deal. She still couldn’t shake the thought that maybe Snake was actually becoming friends with her. She recalled when he said friends were just unambitious enemies, but would rivals really be making food for the other and letting them spend the night? 

“Snake, why  _ are _ you being so friendly with me?” She didn't entirely mean to say that out loud.

Snake’s eye widened before he turned to the ground. He sighed before he sat down with Daisy. “It just sounds like you need some help, so I’m stepping in.”

That still didn't answer her question. “But why do you want to help me?”

Snake signed. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been in a situation like yours before. Except back in those days, I didn’t have anyone who was willing to help me, and that made things harder. Besides, when I first arrived here, you helped me understand how things work in this city. I guess I’m returning the favor.”

“Thanks Snake. I didn’t even realize that I was helping you out then.”

“Well, that was more kindness than anyone else has shown me before.” Snake lowered his hat to cover his face.

If Daisy was being honest, Snake had never struck her as the kind of person who cared about others. But it sounded like he did care. That side of him just hadn’t been apparent, until now. 

“You know Snake, I was like you once. For a while, I thought no one cared about me either, until I met my old partner in crime. We spent so much time together and we didn’t let my partner’s jail sentences interfere with that. Whenever they wound up in jail, I would just come by and break them out, and we continued like that for a while. It wasn’t until they got sent to a harsher prison far away that things changed. There was no way to break them out of that place. The time away forced us apart…” Daisy paused as she realized the same thing was going to happen to Snake. Last night he told her he was going to leave, which would inevitably leave their friendship to be only a fleeting moment in time.

“Snake… I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. I don’t want you to leave. Especially not now, when I’m back to square one, with no one who cares about me.”

“You know...talking with you, I’m not even sure if I want to leave anymore.”

Daisy blinked in shock. She never thought Snake would reconsider. 

“I may have said this city confuses me, but now I realize getting settled here hasn’t actually been too bad, thanks to your help. This is the first place I’ve traveled to where I’ve found someone I work well with. Daisy, the world doesn’t care about us. So maybe that means we should stick with each other. And if you don’t want to come with me, then that means I should stay here.”

Daisy smiled. “That means a lot, Snake. Thank you.”

Snake nodded before he stood up and grabbed an empty pitcher. He handed it to Daisy. 

“Well, since you’re going to stay, I’d appreciate your help. Could you fetch more water from the park?”

“Of course.”

Snake smiled warmly before he turned his back and left the room. Daisy hesitantly stood up with the pitcher in her hand. Snake used to be very hard to read, but now that he seemed to be opening up, she finally felt like she was beginning to understand him. 

After Daisy finished her thought, she made her way to the door with her motorcycle keys in hand. She hopped on her red ride and headed in the direction of the main square where the park was located. As she neared her destination, she gazed at the arch that loomed over the park. She hoped that she wouldn’t run into Fendrich or any of the crooks. Finally she reached the park, and with a pitcher in hand, she found the water pump. Before she could turn it on, she was interrupted by a voice behind her.

“Daisy?”

She turned and saw Duke walking up to her. Instinctively, her heart rate increased. Usually when she encountered Duke, things didn’t go so well for her. 

Duke stopped in front of her. “I’m glad I found you.” He let out a breath. “I need to tell you something.”

Duke hesitated briefly before he continued. He looked like he did not want to say what was on his mind.

“There really is no easy way to tell you this… But the Captain told me you’re on your last straw.”

“What does that mean?” Daisy asked apprehensively, not liking the sound of that. 

“It means that if you commit another crime, you'll be sent away to a harsher prison like your old partner.”

Dread flooded over her, and she dropped the pitcher. The words hardly made sense; they repeated frantically in her mind, until finally the meaning sunk in. She was in serious trouble.

“Daisy? You look pale. Maybe you should sit at the bench.”

She barely processed what he said. Her thoughts were practically drowning out the world around her. Duke took over and brought her to a nearby bench. She could only stare at the ground in shock.

“Why? Why do they want to send me away all of a sudden?”

“Daisy, you do realize you are dangerous to this city, right? Exploding the city is no simple crime.”

She looked up at Duke. “Is there anything you can do? Anything at all?”

“Well, not really, but if you stay away from crime then you’ll be fine.”

“You don’t get it. It’s not that simple! ”

Daisy covered her face with her hands. Without crime, how was she supposed to gather the funds she needed when she was blacklisted from basically every company offering work? She needed to steal Facepatch’s treasure if she was going to get the money to afford her own place, but now, if she was caught, she would be sent behind bars for years. Sure, a few hours or days in jail was fine, but spending years isolated from the city, surrounded by actual dangerous criminals? That sounded worse than sleeping on the streets. At least then, she’d still be in her city, and she’d still have her freedom.

She looked at Duke again. “Did you even try to defend me?”

Duke looked uncomfortable. “It wasn’t my choice to make. But everything will be fine if you just abide by the law.”

“You really don’t get it, do you. Do you even know why I do crime?”

“You want money?”

“No! I  _ need _ money. I need it now more than ever, because right now, I’ve got nowhere to live. I need that money for a house!” Daisy said, her pitch raised in worry.

Duke looked shocked, almost like a deer in headlights. “I-I had no idea... But you do realize there are more options than turning to crime?”

“Sure, maybe for any other normal person. But, well, I’m Daisy Kaboom. Those ‘other options’ have never worked out for me. I’m sort of notorious for messing things up, in one way or another.”

Duke slouched forward for a bit, silent, before he took off his sunglasses and hooked them to his shirt. “You’re not the only one. I mess things up too. Just the other day I ran over my coworker's foot with New Car. I got my car partner taken from me because I’m too dangerous. I try to protect the city, but sometimes, I hurt it instead.”

Daisy was surprised Duke could relate to her. Ever since they separated in college, she thought they were complete opposites. 

Duke looked at the ground and his expression was still haunted. Daisy wondered if he was thinking about Dirty Duke. Ever since his amnesiatic episode, Daisy had noticed him putting more effort into his job, almost as if he was trying to make up for the crimes Dirty Duke had committed. She knew that the event had really affected Duke. But before she could ask him about it, he looked back up at her, his haunted expression gone. 

“Listen,” he said, “if you promise to me you’ll give up crime, I’ll see what I can do to help you find a job. But that means no more stealing, and no more blowing things up with dynamite. It’s a danger to the city to continue like that. As much as I would hate to see you be transferred, I want my city safe.”

This was the first time Duke ever offered to help her out since college. Daisy had thought he’d given up on her a long time ago. But maybe he still believed that she was worth helping.

Still, Duke was not asking a simple thing of her. She already had plans to steal Captain Facepatch’s treasure with Snake. If she backed out of all crime now, Snake might decide to leave after all. After their meaningful conversations, Daisy didn’t want that to happen.

But she also cared about Duke’s trust. Now that he actually seemed to believe she could be helped, a part of her wanted to prove him right, that she could turn her life around. And maybe through all of this, she and Duke could rekindle their friendship. The thought of going back to the old days filled Daisy with a sense of comfort.

All this meant she had to choose between Duke and Snake. Why couldn’t things be simple? Why couldn’t both be an option? 

She sat there for a while thinking about what would happen if she gave up crime. Duke may be able to help her find a job and a place, but who knows how Snake would react when he found out? And her reputation as Daisy Kaboom would be over. But if she continued crime, Duke would lose all trust in her, and their hopes of friendship would be dashed, plus if she was caught, she’d be sent to that terrible prison. 

“So,” Duke said, interrupting her thoughts, “What do you think about my offer?”

“I-I’m still not sure. Are you sure you can help me?”

Duke put his hand on her shoulder. "I will do all I can to help. You can trust me. Remember the time when I helped you pass that physics class back in college? It’ll be just like then.”

Daisy thought back to that time. It was her first semester, back when she still cared about college. She had such a hard time keeping track of all the equations and math rules that she had been sure she would flunk the class. But Duke helped her, going through math problems with her until she thought her brain would explode. She eventually squeaked by with a C-, but at least she still passed the class like she wanted. And while she eventually dropped out of college, some of those concepts from physics helped her when she specialized in bombs and explosives. 

If things could be like they were back in the day, that would mean everything to Daisy. Even if that meant she had to give up crime. She realized she had finally made up her mind.

“In that case, I will take you up on that offer… I need a job to support myself. I will give up crime, I just...don’t want to sleep outside.”

Duke smiled at her. “You made the right choice. And if you need a place, you can have my couch.”

Daisy normally hated being dependent on others, but she was touched that Duke was willing to help her. She could only trust that Duke wasn’t giving her false hope. 

She thought about what she was going to say to Snake, and felt a knot in her stomach, but she’d made her decision. He’d been surprisingly kind to her, but he couldn’t help her when she was on her final straw. At least Duke could. And she still felt conflicted about Snake, after what he’d done to Duke. All of her emotions were starting to become nearly too much for her. To prevent herself from crying in public, she changed the subject.

“You know, if you want the city to be a safer place, you should probably send Fendrich to that harsh prison.”

Duke blinked in shock from Daisy’s words. “Wait, are you saying that Fendrich is a crook?”

“He’s a lot more than that. He’s a crime boss. You could probably link just about every crime back to him.”

Duke stared at her with urgency. “Do you have evidence against him?”

“Well no...” She thought about all the crimes he committed in the past, but she had nothing to prove them. He was obnoxiously good at covering his tracks. But she did remember that he was going to commit a crime to steal Facepatch’s treasure in just a few days... 

“Actually,” Daisy said, “I have an idea. I know that this Friday he told me he’s going to steal Captain Facepatch’s treasure. If you go and stake him out in the shipyard, you’ll be able to catch him in the act.” She just hoped that Snake wouldn’t steal the treasure first. But without her, he would probably be forced to cancel his plans.

“Wow!” Duke exclaimed. “Thanks for the information. I’ve had my suspicions with Fendrich and it’ll be good to finally have evidence against him.”

“Yeah well Fendrich deserves it. He’s a dangerous guy.” Daisy heaved herself off the bench. “Well, I should go. I have someone I need to talk to. I’ll be at your place later today.”

Duke handed her the pitcher. She’d totally forgotten she’d dropped it. She took it and waved goodbye to Duke before she filled it with water and headed to her motorcycle. The whole time she was lost in thought. She felt uneasy for what was to come. This was not going to be an easy conversation.

* * *

Daisy hadn’t even walked into Snake’s place—she was pacing outside the door, worried about how he’d react. Maybe he would be angry at her but maybe in time, he’d forgive her like with the whole Tread and Duke fiasco. Or maybe he would understand and find some other thing to steal? Either way, thinking about what was going to happen got her no closer to the inevitable confrontation. She opened the saloon doors and saw Snake carving a piece of wood with a knife. Once he saw her he stood up and addressed her.

“Well that took you a really long time. What held you up?”

She set down the pitcher full of water and felt her anxiety rising as she spoke. “Snake… I need to tell you something.”

He looked confused. “Do you have new info about the treasure?”

“About that… I ran into Duke at the park and he told me that if I committed one more crime, I’d be sent away to a harsher prison. So basically I’m going to have to drop out of this heist.”

Snake frowned. “You know this heist isn’t a one man job. If you quit, neither of us will get the loot.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to get caught.”

“I doubt we’re going to get caught. I really do think that if we do this together, without other people to get in the way, we will be successful this time. We make a good team.”

“I’m really sorry, but I still can’t risk that.”

“Listen, in the very rare chance we do get caught, I’ll cover for you. I don’t want you to end up in prison either, so you can trust me.”

Daisy simply shook her head.

“So nothing I say is going to convince you. Well then how are you going to find your own place if you’re dropping out of crime? Unless you’ve given up on that dream?”

“I, well…” This was the part she didn't want to tell him. He hadn’t liked it last time when she had told him her loyalty to Duke. But he deserved her honesty. “Duke has offered me his place to stay.”

Snake’s posture tightened. “I see.”

Daisy continued. It was like ripping off a band-aid; she couldn’t leave it at that. “He’s going to help me find an honest job. That’s how I hope to afford my own place.”

Snake grimaced, showing his teeth. “This is gonna backfire on you. The law never works in favor of us outcasts.”

“Well, it's worth a try.”

“Daisy…” Snake paused. “I can sort of understand why you want to give up on crime. I don’t want you to end up like your old partner-in-crime did, either. But what I don’t understand is why you’re leaving, after you made such a big deal about me leaving. I thought...you cared about me. But now, you’ve chosen that lawman over me. Again.”

Daisy tried approaching Snake, but he only backed up. “Of course I care for you.” But she realized an unspoken truth lay between them.  _ Just not as much as Duke.  _

“See, this is why I travel,” Snake continued. “Whenever I get attached… this happens.” He folded his arms and looked off. “But I see I can’t stop you. Guess I was just another person for you to use. Like Tread.”

“I wasn’t manipulating you! I just don’t think I can continue with this criminal lifestyle.”

“Whatever. You’ve made your choice, and it’s about time you left.”

“Snake, please…”

He turned away from her. “Just leave.”

Daisy let out a sound of resignation and left the warehouse. She’d been afraid of this, and now she hurt Snake. This time, she didn’t think Snake would be forgiving her anytime soon; she really broke his trust. But what choice did she have? Duke was the only person who could actually help her with this eviction situation. She hopped on her motorcycle and drove off. The freezing wind hitting her face was just as painful as Snake’s coldness.


	4. Just Like Old Times

Duke was outside sitting in a field. His shorts exposed his legs which brushed against the prickly grass. He normally sat out in the field instead of playing on the playground with his other classmates. They didn’t enjoy his company, and Duke was alright with that. He was usually much more content playing with Cubby alone. Duke felt like Cubby was the only one who felt the way that he did. 

Duke’s playtime was interrupted by soft footsteps approaching him through the grass. He looked up and saw Daisy standing over him, smiling. Daisy was in second grade which was a whole grade below him. But the grade gap didn’t get in the way of their friendship, especially since they only had each other as friends.

Their peers would often single them out and bully them. They didn’t like Duke because he was weirdly obsessed with Cubby, and they didn’t like Daisy because she kept destroying everything. Because of this, the two seemed to end up playing with each other a lot. 

Daisy leaned down to Duke. “Do you want to play with me?”

Before Duke could respond she sat down and grabbed a stick that was beside them.

“So I was thinking that this time your character could be the stick and I could be Cubby?”

Duke certainly did not like that idea. Usually when they played with each other, Duke was Cubby the hero, and Daisy would be the stick bad guy. Duke was very protective of his Cubby plushie, plus Daisy had a destructive reputation that Duke was afraid of.

“No, you can be the stick,” he said.

Daisy rolled her eyes under her long wisps of hair that covered half her forehead. “Come on! You are always Cubby! And I don’t like always being the bad guy! That’s not fair!”

Duke held Cubby tightly in his arms as he shook his head. Daisy leaned forward to grab Cubby out of his grasp. He twisted his body to prevent Daisy from getting Cubby.

“Duke! Let me be Cubby!”

Duke was desperately trying to protect his toy, but Daisy was relentless. 

“Stop!” he yelled.

“I just want to be Cubby! That’s it!” She got a hold of the plush toy, while Duke was desperately grasping onto the right arm. He simply couldn’t let his favorite toy fall into the hands of Daisy. There was no telling what she could do.

“Let go!” Duke yelled desperately.

He could feel the strain on the toy and feared that it would break. “You’re going to rip Cubby!”

_ Rip! _

Duke’s plea was too late. Cubby’s arm was torn from his shoulder only hanging on by a few threads. Daisy immediately let go at the sound of the tear and covered her mouth in shock. 

“Duke, I-”

Duke’s world turned blurry as his eyes welled with tears. Daisy brought her hand forward to place it apologetically on his shoulder and explain herself, but he swatted it away. “You always destroy everything!”

Duke ran away from Daisy, holding Cubby in his arms. He ran towards the school to be in a remote corner, away from all his classmates. When he arrived at the exterior wall of his small school he slumped down, with his back against the wall. Even though it was difficult through his shaking and tears, he tried to assess the damage. He looked at Cubby’s right shoulder that had white fuzz coming out from the tear. He attempted to stuff some of it back into the arm, but it resisted and came out even more. When he realized there was nothing he could do to fix him, he brought his knees closer to his chest. Tears still flowed from his eyes, hitting his knees. Duke quietly cried to himself. 

“You don’t deserve any of this, Cubby.”

Duke’s young mind didn't quite understand that Cubby could easily be fixed. During that moment, it felt as if he was losing a friend. A friend so close to him who had shared many adventures with. He couldn’t bear to see him in this state. Duke gently hugged his injured friend, and by doing so set off his voice box mechanism.

“The easiest way is rarely the best way!”

Luckily Cubby still sounded normal. But Duke thought about those words. Nothing about this situation was easy, but how did that make things better? It seemed like the easiest way would be the best way this time, if it could bring Cubby back to him. Either way, hugging Cubby started to calm him down until he eventually stopped crying.

* * *

“Daisy, come look at this. I think this job will be good for you.” Duke called. He had been helping Daisy find an honest job since she agreed to give up crime. He was proud that she made the tough decision. If she had continued the lifestyle she had previously lived, she would've been locked up for good.

Daisy came over from his couch and looked at the laptop he had opened on the kitchen table.

“Look, there is a position open for a demolition specialist. I mean, that way you could use dynamite legally. I think that sounds good for you.” 

Daisy shook her head. “I’ve tried working with those people. Let's just say they don’t like me.”

Duke scrolled down further on the application. The requirements were that someone needed a high school education, experience with dynamite, and NOT DAISY KABOOM in bold.

“What did you even do?”

“Turns out, you can only explode what they authorize, and not the random building down the street.” She smiled awkwardly.

Duke sighed as he closed the laptop. “Ok, I think that's enough job searching for today.” He looked down at his watch. “Well, I work the nightshift tonight, but we still have a few more hours until then.” 

It was Friday evening, the night Duke was to arrest Fendrich as he stole the golden door knobs, and he felt impatient with excitement. “What would you like to do until then?” he asked Daisy.

Daisy laughed. “It feels like we’re college roommates.”

Duke went along. “Well, what do college roommates do?”

“Dumb things. Things you probably arrest people for doing.”

“Yeah, probably shouldn’t be doing that. I’d rather show up for my shift in something other than prison stripes.”

They laughed for a moment before Daisy changed the tone. “Man, I missed the times when we could just joke around.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’ve realized the easiest way is rarely the best way. I appreciate that you are trying to be good now.”

“As opposed to what? Do you think I was bad?”

Duke realized that what he said wasn’t congruent to what he was thinking. “I mean, I’m glad you are making better decisions and putting crime behind you.”

“Yeah, well I wasn’t really given much of a choice.” Daisy said jokingly, but Duke picked up on the disingenuous tone in her voice. 

Duke softened his expression and spoke with a more serious tone. “Maybe you can’t choose the consequences, but you can choose what actions you’re going to take. You made the right decision, and that’s what matters.”

Daisy chuckled mirthlessly. “If only the right decision was always obvious.”

“Well as long as you’re not breaking the law, you’re at least on the right track.”

“So you think any and all crime is bad, no matter what motivates a person to do it?” Daisy challenged him.

Duke stopped and thought about it. “Well...yeah. Crime harms the city. I just can’t stand by that. But I can agree with you that crime without a reasonable purpose is the worst kind.” Unbidden, he was reminded of Dirty Duke. He hadn’t been motivated by anything other than greed and selfishness. He stole things for the sake of it, and he even felt good about his actions.

He exhaled, trying to push those thoughts out of his mind. Thinking about Dirty Duke always made him feel terrible, and it didn’t solve anything. 

Daisy looked at him with concern. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, of course. Just thinking.”

“...You’re thinking about Dirty Duke again, aren’t you?”

Duke was shocked by Daisy’s correct guess. Sure, she had always been pretty perceptive of Duke’s emotions growing up, but he’d assumed things had changed since then. He sighed. “Yeah, I was. How did you know?”

“Well ever since that day, you tend to get unusually quiet after talking about crime. It’s a little obvious.”

Duke scratched his arm and looked away. “Yeah, guess I’m still a bit unsettled about everything that happened.”

Daisy’s expression was sympathetic. “Hey, I know it’s been a while since we’ve had a heartfelt conversation and all, but you can say more than just that.”

Daisy’s sympathy took Duke by surprise, but she seemed genuine. It reminded him of who she'd been in the past.

He took a moment to think about what to do. He didn’t want to think about Dirty Duke anymore, but he hadn’t had anyone else to talk to about his concerns, and there was a lot he wanted to get off his chest. If Daisy was willing to listen, he would tell her. He nodded softly. “Alright.”

He kept his gaze away from Daisy as she sat next to him. A few seconds passed before he could let it out. “I guess the truth is, it’s bothering me quite a bit...All it took was a memory wipe, and suddenly I was breaking the law with no remorse. I don’t understand how that could happen. I thought I was a good person.”

“Snake manipulated you into breaking the law,” Daisy insisted. “That had nothing to do with you as a person.”

“But when I—Dirty Duke—turned against him, that wasn’t because of him. That was all Dirty Duke’s decision.”

‘Right. That was  _ Dirty Duke’s _ decision. Not yours. I think it’s safe to say you are not the same person. Not at all. Dirty Duke genuinely thought he was a cop gone bad. He forgot everything about your identity, and that made him incomplete.”

Duke folded his arms. “I guess you’re right, but that still proves that deep down, it's possible for me to become bad. And that scares me.”

“Duke, everyone has the potential to be bad. But everyone has the potential to be good, too. What matters is the decisions you make. You try so hard to do what you believe is right. I think that proves beyond a doubt you’re a good person. It’s like you were telling me earlier: you’re making the right decisions now, and that’s what matters.”

Duke looked up at her and smiled warmly. Even though the topic still worried him, Daisy’s supportive words were exactly what Duke needed to hear. “Thanks Daisy. I’ve really missed our talks.” 

“Yeah, well so have I.” Daisy smiled back.

Just talking about this for a few minutes had emotionally drained Duke, and he needed to be alert and ready for his shift tonight. He looked at his watch and changed the topic. “Well, look at that, I only have two hours before my shift. If we are going to do something, we’d better decide fast.”

Daisy shrugged. “You law abiding people really don’t know what to do with your time.”

“Daisy, you are a ‘law abiding’ person now.”

“Yeah, but how do you guys entertain yourselves? Watch paint dry?”

Duke thought of an idea. “Here, let me show you.”

He stood up and grabbed his car keys that were hanging from on a hook near his door.

“Where are you going?”

Duke gestured for her to follow. “You’re coming with me.”

Daisy had a confused look on her face, but followed anyway. Duke opened the door for them and led her to his police car that was parked in his driveway. They got into the car, but Duke noticed something felt off. He realized it was because Daisy was in the passenger seat rather than in the back. Duke shook his head to clear that thought. Daisy was different now. He turned the keys and expected to hear the voice of New Car, when was reminded that he was in his old car. Right.

“Oh I nearly forgot. This isn’t the car I normally drive.”

Daisy tilted her head. “Yeah, I remember you telling me that earlier. They took your other car away for safety reasons, but wasn’t it a lot safer than a regular car? It doesn’t make any sense why anyone would think taking away your new car is a good idea. ”

Duke shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t make perfect sense, but when Tom Bennett’s not in a good mood, there’s no talking him out of his decisions.”

“Sounds like Snake.” Daisy said flatly.

Duke wondered what that looked like. He never had to deal with Snake when he was in a bad mood. In fact, he seemed to be in a pretty average mood whenever Duke arrested him.

“So, where exactly are we going?” Daisy asked.

Duke smiled. “Nowhere. Let’s just drive around and enjoy the city.”

“Wow, that  _ does _ sound better than watching paint dry.” she said jokingly. 

Duke backed out of the driveway, and accidentally hit the gas too hard. The back wheels ran over the curb on the side of the road. He quickly switched out of reverse and drove forward to get off the curb. 

“Geez, you’re an aggressive driver even when you aren’t chasing anyone.” 

He awkwardly smiled in response. 

As they drove down the main road, Duke had increased his speed without realizing.

“Duke, you do realize we are going 80 on a regular road. Do you even look at the speedometer as you are driving?”

“Speedometer?”

“You know? That little arrow right there saying you are going 80?” She pointed at a small arrow on his dashboard.

“Oh right. Sorry. I’m just used to New Car telling me my speed.”

Daisy laughed. “You mean, you actually forgot what a speedometer was?”

“I guess,” he said, feeling embarrassed that such a basic thing about driving had slipped from his mind. He pressed his foot on the brake, causing the little arrow to go down.

“Here, since you are helping me out with finding a job, I can return the favor by reminding you how to drive a regular car.”

He looked at Daisy with a raised eyebrow. He hadn’t expected this level of friendliness from her. It could have been because of their conversation earlier, but regardless, Daisy had lightened up quite a bit. Maybe she really was hoping to put everything behind her. 

Suddenly Daisy swung her arms forward and grabbed the steering wheel from his grasp. She violently turned it away from Ms. Blumfeld who happened to be crossing the street.

“Ok, lesson one to driving: look at the road!” Daisy laughed, as if they hadn’t almost ran over a pedestrian. 

Duke wasn’t so amused. That had been too close. Had he always been such a reckless driver?

“Alright, I guess my work is cut out for me.” Daisy said, recovering from her laughter. “Your driving needs help. It’s a wonder we haven’t crashed yet.”

“I mean, I haven’t crashed  _ that  _ often.”

“But you admit you have crashed! That tells me everything about your driving safety.”

“To be fair, most of those were during high-speed chases. And I’ve never gotten really injured before.”

“Well I’d hate for that injury-free record to end, so you’re getting lessons, whether you want them or not. Let’s see, I think the best way to teach you would be to show you myself, so why don’t we switch spots?”

“Alright then.”

He pulled off the side of the road and they switched seats. With Duke now on the passenger side, he watched Daisy move her seat closer to the wheel and adjust the mirrors.

“Anytime you move from the side of the road you want to use your blinker.”

She demonstrated and they caught up to speed. “And notice my speed? I’m not going 20 over.”

They continued down the road while Daisy was giving a few pointers. They arrived at a red stop light and idled for a while. As Duke looked out the window next to him, he heard a loud motor of a motorcycle approach the car in the lane next to Daisy. He looked over and narrowed his eyes when he saw it was Snake. Not exactly someone Duke was happy to see.

Daisy stared out her window in surprise. Snake met her gaze and his one eye widened. “Daisy?”

Daisy looked reluctant as she rolled down the window. “Oh hey Snake.”

Snake changed his shocked look to a glare.

“Daisy, what are you doing? When you said you were getting help from Duke, I wasn’t expecting you to actually _ join _ the pokey.”

Daisy looked tense. “It’s not what it looks like. I was just helping Duke out. I’m definitely not one of them.”

“Sure, and next you’ll be helping Duke arrest me.” 

“Snake come on. Just because I don’t do crime anymore doesn’t mean I’m suddenly a cop now! Why do you think that I’m going to turn on you?”

“Going to? You already did.”

Duke was very confused by this encounter. He thought that Snake and Daisy were partners. He looked up at the light and saw that it was now green. The cars behind them honked.

Duke looked over to Daisy. “Daisy, the light is green-” 

She talked over Duke. “I’m not turning on you, Snake! I’m just making different choices with my life. Please understand!”

“Oh I think I understand.” He turned away, revving his engine. “Sounds like I was never welcome here.” He sped off through the intersection.

Daisy tightly gripped the wheel and finally drove forward. 

Duke was left feeling very uncomfortable. All of the arguing and blaring car horns had brought up his stress. He didn’t do well with conflict that wasn’t related to the law. He could think of nothing to say to Daisy to console her.

“Let's go back,” Daisy said in a resigned voice. “I’m done driving through the city.” 

The drive back home was quiet, and only the sound of the running motor filled their silence. Duke could practically feel Daisy's tension, like a cold mist. They got back into Duke’s house and all Daisy did was plop on his couch, cover her face and groan. 

He didn’t want to poke the wasp’s nest, but he did want to know what was going on with Snake and Daisy. Maybe understanding their conflict better would help him to know what to say to her. Luckily he didn’t have to start the conversation, it seemed that Daisy read his mind.   
  


“I’m sorry you had to see that. Snake isn’t exactly ‘on board’ with me quitting crime.”

Duke sat on the other end of the couch. “Why does that bother him so much?”

“He would kill me if I told you, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only friend he’s ever had. And somehow me accepting your help is like betraying him? He keeps putting on a whole loner persona, but instead of being a loner, he’s just lonely.” Daisy paused. “It’s too bad. I think Snake was my only friend too.”

Duke tilted his head. Were he and Daisy not friends? He thought about the memories he shared with her, and just how long ago those had been. Since college, he realized he hadn’t been all that kind with her. He’d barely even talked with her, until today. He’d been too preoccupied with his job. No wonder she didn’t consider him a friend anymore.

“So I guess we aren’t friends huh?” Duke said.

Daisy looked at him with wide eyes. “I swear that’s not what I meant.”

Duke shook his head. “No you're right. We aren’t friends because I haven’t been treating you like one, not lately. I want things to be like how they were. From now on, I’m going to trust you. I’m not going to let our differences get in the way.”

Daisy smiled at him. “Can I hug you?”

He opened his arms in response to her question. She came in and wrapped her arms around him for a while. When they were ready to let go, it felt as if a barrier between them was removed. Finally they had the chance to be friends again. 

Duke looked down at his watch and noticed that it was time for him to head to work. He stood up from the couch. “Are you going to be fine here on your own?”

“Of course. You gotta get on Captain Facepatch’s ship and catch Fendrich.”

Duke nodded and waved at her before leaving through the front door.


	5. Dark Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Things are gonna go down! Just a warning if you have a fear of water/ drowning.

Duke ignored his speedometer. He was going to be late to catch Fendrich, and this was not exactly something he could be late to. Daisy had told him that Fredrich would be here trying to steal Captain Facepatch's treasure, and he was going to catch him in the act. His car’s engine roared through the city as he speeded to the docks. The sun had just set over the horizon, and a cool shadow blanketed the city. 

Duke ran over his plan quickly as the docks came in his sight. First, he had to warn Facepatch about the stakeout, and use his help to set it up convincingly. Duke would hide behind a nearby cargo box, and wait for Fendrich’s arrival. Once Fendrich entered the scene and made his illegal intentions known, Duke would finally have the warrant to arrest him. 

He wondered for a moment if Fendrich would just leave everything up to the crooks, and not reveal himself at all. But Daisy seemed to believe she had exclusive insider info. She was pretty confident he’d be here. And Duke trusted her. 

He parked his car far away from the ship so Fendrich couldn’t see it. Night was coming fast, and a chill hung in the air as Duke walked from his car to the steel boat. The boat’s walkway was still open, allowing Duke an easy way onboard.

It was completely silent in the ship’s hallways. No sign of the crew or Facepatch anywhere. Duke didn’t know a whole lot about boats, but he was familiar with the commander room, and there was a chance Facepatch could be there. He climbed a flight of stairs near the back of the boat. Thankfully he found the right door. He swung it open. 

Facepatch was tied to a chair, near the control panel. He struggled against the tight ropes, his one visible eye stretched wide in fear.

"Captain!” Duke ran over to him. He frantically untied the main knots holding Facepatch’s arms and legs to the chair.

Facepatch mumbled something incoherent. It sounded urgent, but his mouth must’ve been duct taped under his mask. Duke could only focus on one thing at a time, and continued tugging on the ropes. Once Duke had freed the captain’s arms and legs he moved on to the cords trapping Facepatch’s wrists. Within a few seconds, those ropes fell to the ground. 

Facepatch slightly lifted his mask and ripped off a piece of duct tape over his mouth. “She was just here!” She went that way!” He pointed to the door.

She? Did he mean Big Betty or Clara? He ran towards the door, but it didn’t budge. He looked through the small circular window on the door and saw the other side was piled with heavy boxes, trapping them in. This was a setup.

“We’re stuck in here!” Duke exclaimed.

Captain Facepatch looked like he was still catching his breath, but he seemed much calmer now. “Oh dear. On the bright side, she’ll never find my treasure.”

“Where is it?”

“Allow me to show you.” Facepatch went over to the control panel and pressed a few buttons. Part of the panel opened up, and slid out like a drawer, exposing the treasure chest. 

Facepatch pressed a few buttons and the drawer retracted back into the panel. “What can I say, I’m a pirate! Hiding treasure is what I do. I even set out a fake treasure on the deck. Trust me, when you are constantly surrounded by pirates, it’s always necessary to plant a fake treasure.”

“It’s a good thing you did. But could you describe to me what happened?”

“Well, of course, my good sir! I was sitting here, just about to retrieve my treasure when this masked woman came in and tied me up to that chair. She left not long before you came in.”

“What did the woman look like?”

“It was rather difficult to see any facial qualities under the mask, but her hair was unforgettable. She had short black hair with orange and yellow tips.”

His heart dropped. That description matched Daisy perfectly. But there had to be a mistake. She wouldn’t do this, not when she’d sacrificed so much to give up crime, not when she’d just started being friends with him again. 

Facepatch interrupted his thoughts. “So, how are we going to get out?”

Duke assessed the situation. The door was jammed, and the windows seemed way too sturdy to break. His best bet was to call the station for backup. He brought his walkie talkie up to his mouth.

_ BOOM _   
  
The boat shook, knocking Facepatch and Duke off their feet. The walkie-talkie skidded across the room. The rocking subsided, leaving Duke with chilling dread crawling over his body. He could recognize that sound from a mile away. It was Daisy’s dynamite. 

Facepatch got up from the floor and scrambled up to the window. Duke followed. 

The front of the boat was completely demolished. Water gushed onto the deck, pulling the hull into the ocean.

“This ship is going down!” Facepatch cried. 

Another boom knocked them backwards. Duke’s head slammed against the navigation panel and pain shot through the back of his skull, but he was able to get up even with the boat still swaying from the explosion. 

Duke looked for his walkie talkie and found it on the other side of the room. He carefully made his way to the back of the boat, with his arms out to control his balance, but he was interrupted by the largest explosion so far. He went flying back to the control panel away from the walkie talkie. 

Disoriented, Duke got up, and through the swaying he felt the floor tilting. The boat was making a nose dive into the ocean! All the supplies and furniture in the room slid down towards him and Facepatch. Duke shouldered rolled to avoid being smashed, while Facepatch dodged a few falling chairs.

Once things stopped falling towards them, Duke looked up to find the communication device. It was caught out of reach, stuck in a nook of the stationary navigation table. Duke pushed through the surrounding clutter and made it to the floor of the boat, which was so steep that it was now a wall. He jumped onto the upended furniture and reached up to climb the floor-wall, but it was too steep. He looked at Facepatch, who was standing on the window that was now the floor. 

“There’s no way you can reach that, we need to get out of here!” Facepatch said with a shaky voice.

Duke kicked aside an overturned chair at his feet to see the window right below him. Water had completely engulfed the deck and was just about to reach the room they were in. 

“We need to break the window!” Duke yelled as he looked for something to use to break the glass. 

As he was searching, he felt freezing water soak into his shoes. He looked down to see an inch of water collecting around them. They ocean slowly but steadily trickled in through the seams of the walls. At the rate the water was rising, they had maybe five minutes before the water filled the whole room. 

Metal screeched, and a part of the wall burst open, sending water crashing in. In a heartbeat the water level was at his waist. The freezing temperature of the water took Duke’s breath away. Panicking, he shoved his foot into the window, but it didn’t even crack. 

“Here!” Facepatch said, handing him a metal rod. 

Duke took the rod. That hopefully would give him enough force. He thrusted the pole down to ground, but the water slowed his force, and the rod only created a small crack in the window. With the water now at their necks, they had to swim to stay afloat. 

The water level had now risen to the point where Duke could not reach the floor anymore. Now, they’d be lucky to have a minute before the ocean engulfed them. 

Duke violently shivered as he looked around for something, anything that could help, but only saw the water sloshing around them, as dark as ink. Duke saw something bobbing in the water and realized with a jolt that it was his walkie-talkie. The water must’ve moved it out of its place. He grabbed it and pressed the button.

“Dispatch, I’m trapped on Captain Facepatch’s ship and we’re sinking! We can’t open the window and need back-up immediately!”

Facepatch yelled so his voice could be heard through the walkie talkie. “Please save us!”

Captain Tom Bennett responded to the request. “Don’t worry, we’re sending help right now!” 

The water had now filled about half of the room. Duke looked down into the pitch-black water, pole in hand. He had to keep trying to break the window. 

He dunked his head under, and frigid water folded over his head. He tried opening his eyes but the salt stung, and it was much too dark. Left with no options, he swam down blindly until he hit something. Instinctively, he opened his eyes and was actually able to see the glass, illuminated by the lights from the control panel. He slammed the rod against the glass and more cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, but the window didn’t break. His lungs screamed for air as he swam upwards again. 

Surfacing, he gasped for air. It horrified him to see that the water was already so high up that he could now touch the ceiling. Facepatch treaded water next to him. 

“Captain,” Duke said, breathless, “I cracked the glass more. I think it just needs one more hit and then we can get out of here.”

Captain Facepatch tilted his head upwards to keep it above the ocean. “Well I think that’s our only option! Please hurry!”

Their heads scraped the ceiling, and Duke took one last breath before the water rose above his head. Duke grabbed Facepatch’s hand and swam down towards the window. Duke fought through the pain of the salt in his eyes. 

Finally the cracked window came into view. Duke slammed the rod down as hard as he could. The window finally broke apart, and he brought Facepatch through the window. Just as he thought his lungs were going to explode, he saw some light overhead. He swam up with Facepatch, swallowing water. 

They broke the surface, and Duke violently coughed up the water he had swallowed. Facepatch gasped at his side. The sound of a helicopter overhead diverted Duke’s attention upwards. 

A rope dropped down to them, and they grabbed it, holding on tight. Duke’s muscles strained to hold on as the helicopter flew them over the waves to the dock. It lowered them to the ground.

All Duke could do was collapse on the concrete and take deep breaths. His teeth chattered as the cold sunk in. 

Rooky came down on the helicopter rope. "Are you guys ok?!”

Duke nodded and looked at Facepatch. The captain was panting, but seemed unharmed. “We’re ok. Just freezing.”

Rooky handed them towels, blankets and dry clothes. Once they were dry and had the chance to calm down, more officer cars arrived. Wheelie rode up to them on his skateboard, the wheels flashing red and blue.

“Dudes, what happened?!”

Duke explained everything to Wheelie, and as he did so, the weight of everything sunk in. He and Facepatch had almost died, and it was Daisy’s fault.

“That’s way not cool. We’ve gotta hunt down Daisy. She’s gonna be put away for good.”

Duke tightened his grip on the blanket. She deserved what was coming for her. She deserved to be put in a harsh prison far away from everyone she knew until the end of her days. Captain Bennett had been right all along: she was a threat to their city. 

Wheelie walked over to Duke and Facepatch. “Come on bros, let’s get you guys in a warm car.”

Facepatch and Duke followed Wheelie into a police car. The heat was cranked up all the way. Duke felt out of it. Sure, the experience was traumatic, but he was more angry than anything. Daisy set him up for that trap all along. She was the one that told him to be here to catch Fendrich Everything she said about friendship and turning her life around must’ve been a total lie meant to get Duke to trust her.

“Are you alright? You still seem very shaken,” said a very concerned sounding Facepatch.

Duke looked at Facepatch. He shook away his thoughts about Daisy. “I’ll be fine, but what about you? You just lost your ship.”

Facepatch signed wistfully. “I will certainly miss the Guardian of the Oceans, but at least I still have a submarine. I can use that to salvage whatever I can, including the real treasure. With that treasure, I’ll easily have enough for a new boat.” He paused for a bit. ‘I’m just glad to be alive. It’s all thanks to you that I’m still here.”

Duke smiled, glad that Facepatch had a positive outlook, but his smile faded quickly when he failed to find anything to be optimistic about. On the contrary, the more he thought about the situation, the angrier it made him. Daisy had no need to blow up the ship. She’d trapped them, and could’ve easily made off with the loot and left the robbery at that. But she deliberately detonated bombs on the ship, leaving them trapped in the sinking boat. She was truly a monster.

“Well, I’m glad you can get a new boat,” Duke said. “But I can assure you, justice will be served. We will hunt down Daisy.”

  
  


* * *

Daisy was sitting on Duke’s couch contemplating whether it was too early to try and sleep. She was bored, and didn’t have anything else to do. It was only 10 PM, which for her was quite early. Plus she wanted to hear the news if Duke had caught Fendrich. 

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up. She saw a text message from Jamison that read “Fendrich wants to speak with you immediately.” 

Daisy raised her eyebrows. She thought Duke would’ve caught him by now. That certainly didn’t add up. Maybe Fendrich had escaped Duke and was begging Daisy for help? 

Daisy of course had no desire to rescue Fendrich from his well-deserved situation, but she wondered if heading over to his tower would be beneficial. Maybe she could report Fendrich’s location and plans to Duke. 

She shrugged. At the very least, it would cure her boredom. That was reason enough to go. She put on her boots and made it to the door.

Once she arrived at his penthouse, she experienced a wave of déjà vu. Everything felt the same as she clicked the button to go up the elevator then eventually stepped into his office. She was unsurprised to find the crooks lined up against the entrance, giving her threatening looks yet again.

Daisy smirked at Fendrich. “Really? Threatening me again? You don’t scare me.”

Fendrich softly laughed. Daisy looked at the crooks again and noticed Vito for the first time. He was holding a wig that resembled her hair. Odd...

“Why is Vito holding that?” 

Vito groaned. “Usually Hacksaw is the one to dress up, but for some reason he refused.”

She looked at Hacksaw who wasn’t even holding a hacksaw. He looked uncomfortable, not the least bit threatening.

Fendrich stood up from his desk chair and put his hands behind his back. “I will explain all of this to you. Just take a seat.” Something about Fendrich seemed off. Usually he was loud and in-your-face, but now he was calm, collected, and...eerie. She sat down cautiously.

“So I heard you at the park the other day talking to Duke. It sounded to me like you’re in a bit of a dilemma. If you do one more crime you’ll be put away for good, am I correct?”

Daisy’s heart dropped. “How did you know I was at the park?”

Fendrich rolled his eyes. “The park is a public place. It’s right outside my building. Plus, your meltdown was pretty hard to miss.”

Daisy sank further in her chair. She had no idea where this conversation was heading.

“I also heard that you wanted to put me in jail. You told Duke about how I wanted to steal Facepatch’s treasure. Daisy, you turned on me, so I turned on you.”

Daisy started putting together the pieces. If Fendrich knew that she ratted him out to Duke, then he knew about the stakeout. And Vito was dressed as her… she froze as a sudden realization hit her.

“You framed me.” She was hardly able to get the words out. 

Fendrich chuckled darkly. “Want to know your crime? It’s already all over the news. Go on, check.”

Daisy pulled out her phone, searching up the news. Headlines came up about Duke and Facepatch, trapped on the sinking boat, explosions going off around them. They had managed to escape but the horror of the situation outweighed that good news. Especially when she saw all the articles blaming her as the menace behind it all.

She trembled. “Why? How could you do this?”

Fendrich looked completely evil. “You are my enemy.”

Daisy’s breath quickened as she realized that Duke thought she’d tried to kill him. 

“They are looking for you.” Fendrich said with a smile. He picked up a phone on his desk.

“Hello? I have Daisy here in my office. I think she was trying to frame me for a crime. Please come quickly.” He placed the phone down and stared piercingly at Daisy.

“You better start running.”

Daisy was frozen in fear for a moment until she heard the faraway sound of sirens and helicopters approach the building and the magnitude of her situation crashed down on her. They were coming for her. They would throw her in prison for the rest of her days.

She bolted out of her chair and ran through the door, down the hallway and to the elevator. Thankfully she made it down without any encounters, but she could hear they were close. 

Racing outside in the cold night air, Daisy flung herself on her motorcycle and fled the scene as quickly as she could. She heard the sirens approaching one direction, so she drove the other way. She could barely process everything. Fendrich had framed her for something incredibly serious. And now the cops were after her. She was on the run, with no place to run, and no person to help her. Not Snake, not Duke. Everyone was against her. She blinked back tears as she realized everything was completely hopeless.


	6. Departure

Daisy couldn't think of a single place she could go. The police sirens still ringed in the distance, and the sting of betrayal bit her like frostbite. She’d been driving aimlessly around the dark city for a few minutes, so instead, she went where her instincts told her to go, and they were leading her to Snake’s place. It was probably a mistake to go there, but that was the only place where she felt inclined to go. She arrived at the large abandoned warehouse and swung open the saloon-style doors. Snake sat with a small cloth, wrapping things up.

“Snake, you gotta help me.”

He turned at her. “What are you doing here? You’re no longer welcome here.”

“I know, but you’ve got to help me. I-I was framed for a crime I didn’t do, and now I’m being hunted down. They’re going to lock me up for good.”

Snake looked unsympathetic. “I warned you this would happen. You should’ve known better than to trust that lawman Duke.”

“Please, I just need to hide out here.”

“Be my guest.”

Daisy blinked. “Wait really?”

“Well sure. This place has no use for me anymore.” 

Snaked grabbed a few cans and wrapped them in the cloth. He loaded the cloth onto a runaway cart.

“You mean, you’re leaving now?”

“I have nothing left for me in this city. I may not have the cash to travel for long, but I have enough to at least get out of here.”

Daisy couldn’t believe that Snake was actually leaving after all. He packed up a few more things, blew out his fire and hopped on his cart.

“Snake, you don’t have to leave.”

He didn’t even turn around. “Goodbye, Daisy Kaboom.”

He pressed down on the handles of the cart and wheeled his way out. Daisy watched him leave until he was completely out of sight. She knew that there was no way to bring Snake back. She sighed as she looked around at the dark empty place. Nothing was left for her other than empty crates and a clinging sense of loneliness. At least she would be hidden here; for now, that was good enough.

* * *

The sirens had just faded when Fendrich turned to Hacksaw, grinning. “Give me the treasure.”

Hacksaw picked up the heavy treasure chest and heaved it onto Fendrich’s desk. He watched as his boss laughed at his success.

“Vito, pass me the pliers,” Fendrich said.

Vito handed him a pair of pliers, grumbling. He still seemed to be slightly angry that he had to dress up as Daisy instead of Hacksaw, but Hacksaw felt too uncomfortable with the whole plan to wear the costume. 

Daisy was nice to them, and from what the boss told him, she was in a really desperate situation. Fendrich only saw her moment of desperation as something to take advantage of. It didn’t feel at all right to Hacksaw. But he couldn’t really share his thoughts or else Fendrich would certainly be angry, and Hacksaw didn’t want to do anything to upset the boss. 

He just wanted to prove to Fendrich that he wasn’t useless, and that he was willing to do whatever was asked of him. But that made it hard when what Fendrich was asking of him was morally wrong. Sure, maybe stealing things was wrong, but that was on a completely different level compared to going behind someone’s back and ruining their life. 

Fendrich had taken the pliers to the lock of the chest and strained as he tried to get the lock loose. He eventually got it to budge and impatiently flung the top of the chest to reveal some shining door knobs. 

He smiled as he picked one of them up and admired himself in the reflection. He rubbed the side of the door knob to clean the surface, but instead of just rubbing off the dust, gold-colored paint smeared his hand. Hacksaw covered his ears, anticipating what was coming. 

“THIS IS FAKE GOLD!” Fendrich’s yell boomed through the room.

He threw the doorknob against the wall. His face became bright red as rage took over him, and the crooks backed away from his desk. Jamison quickly came into the room holding a pillow in his hand. He dutifully passed it to Fendrich, who took it and screamed into it. The crooks waited a long while as Fendrich took deep breaths into the pillow to calm down. After several minutes he finally got into a state where he could speak.

“Everyone just leave.”

Clara, Vito and Frankie didn’t hesitate to leave, but Hacksaw didn’t move; he was too busy thinking back to their heist. When they were there on the boat, Vito was the one who tied up Facepatch, while Hacksaw himself had worked with Fendrich, Frankie, and Betty to search for the treasure. Once they found the treasure chest on the deck, and Vito was done tying up the captain, Fendrich told them to leave the boat and meet up at the penthouse. But what could’ve Fendrich been doing alone at the boat? Maybe he could ask him?

“Hacksaw, come on, the boss wants us to leave.” Big Betty said in defeat.

Hacksaw sighed and followed Betty, There was no way Fendrich would answer his questions; he was in no mood to talk. Eventually, they stepped outside, under the lamplit curbside and walked up to their ride. Usually at this point one of them would be calling shotgun, but they just silently piled in without complaint. Betty took her place at the wheel, with Frankie in the passenger seat, and Hacksaw sat in the back with Vito and Clara. 

The drive was uncomfortably quiet. To fight the silence, Frankie turned on the radio. It sounded like Gabby Tocamera was reporting about what had just happened with the treasure. Hacksaw perked up. Maybe this would explain what Fendrich had done during this heist?

“Just earlier tonight, around 9:30 PM, Captain Facepatch was robbed in his ship by Daisy Kaboom. He and Duke Detain, the officer at the scene, were left trapped in the control room, as Daisy stole the fake loot and detonated the boat with her signature dynamite, leaving it to sink. Both Duke Detain and Captain Facepatch nearly drowned, but luckily they escaped through a window-“

Gabby continued reporting, but it felt like Hacksaw's world was frozen. The boss had told him this would be a simple heist; he’d said nothing about the dynamite! Didn’t Fendrich know that blowing up the ship would leave Facepatch and Duke in mortal danger? It made him sick to his stomach to think that he assisted Fendrich in hurting Daisy, Facepatch, and Duke, all for a couple of fake door knobs. Not even Tippy would think that’d be remotely worth it. 

The crooks pulled into the garage. They all lived in separate houses, but with it being 2 AM, they were all way too tired to walk home. Well, everyone except Clara. She seemed fully awake as she went to the door, briefly waving goodbye to the team. Hacksaw wondered if she was simply used to staying up late. But everyone else crashed. Vito walked over to the couch and collapsed. Frankie didn’t even make it to the couch and fell asleep on the floor. Betty went to the back room and grabbed a few blankets and pillows and placed them around Vito and Frankie. Somehow those two were already snoring. Betty picked a chair next to the couch, while Hacksaw claimed the other end of the couch where Vito was. They all were out, but Hacksaw was too disturbed to sleep despite how tired he was. His thoughts were too muddied by sinking ships and Daisy on the run.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Duke had nearly drowned because of Daisy, but they were still no closer to finding her. 

Frustration churned in Duke as he drove to work. Where could she be? She needed to be taken off the streets for the safety of everyone. He’d worked many long shifts trying to find her, but at the end of each shift, he was left with nothing but disappointment. 

Duke pulled up to the station, and like every day, he hoped that someone would have new info about Daisy’s whereabouts. 

He walked through the main doors and was greeted by his co-workers. Tom Bennett came forward towards Duke. “Lieutenant, may I speak with you?”

Duke nodded, and followed him to a desk that was off to the side of the main room, his heart rate increasing. Was this about Daisy? 

Wheelie was already sitting at the desk, and Tom sat down beside him.

Duke cut straight to the topic. “Is this about Daisy? Did you guys find new information about her?”

Tom and Wheelie looked at each other, then back at him. Tom cleared his throat. “About that…”

Wheelie jumped in when Tom didn’t speak further. “Well the good news, bro, is that we are giving you a paid vacation!”

Duke was confused. “When?”

“Starting today,” replied Tom.

Duke’s eyes widened. “ _ What _ ? I can’t take a vacation now, not with Daisy still loose! We can’t afford to take even one cop off duty!”

Tom shook his head. “I’m sorry Duke, but you need a vacation. We’ve noticed that your head hasn’t been in the game since what happened.”

Duke shook his head. “I don’t understand, Captain. I feel like I’ve been working harder than anyone with this case. I’m still more than fit for police duty!”

“Well, that’s precisely why you need a break,” Tom said. “You’ve been so fixated on catching Daisy that you’re neglecting your own needs. A break from this case will be beneficial to you.”

“But Captain, what I  _ need  _ is to see Daisy arrested. I can’t leave now!”

Wheelie held out his hands, urging Duke to calm down. “Dude, it’s for the best. We’ll totally work on finding Daisy. You can relax wherever you want! We’ll pay for it!”

During any other time, Duke would have appreciated the offer, but right now, a vacation was the last thing he wanted. But he knew his arguing was getting him nowhere, so he stopped protesting his superiors.

Wheelie continued. “So where would you like to go? There’s one of the neighboring cities you could visit. Or if you want to get away from a city you can go camping in the west. Maybe the mountains?”

Duke sighed. They seemed completely determined to send him off on a vacation, so he gave in. “How about one of Facepatch’s cruises? He just reopened them this week.”

Tom blinked in shock. “Are you sure… it hasn’t been long since you-”

“Don’t worry Captain. I’ll be fine.” Well, maybe he’d get bored and he was most certainly going to get antsy, but the thought of boats and the ocean still didn’t scare him. Plus he wanted to talk about things with Facepatch. He might discover more clues about Daisy’s case.

Tom still looked a little unsure, but he nodded curtly. “Well that settles it. You can go home and get packed up. We’ll see you when you get back.” 

Wheelie got on his skateboard and showed Duke to the door. He didn’t want to be ungrateful for the paid vacation, but he already knew he wasn’t going to enjoy it. Daisy’s betrayal was still too fresh on his mind to allow him to care about anything other than her case. This was going to be a long cruise.

* * *

  
  


Duke approached the gigantic ship with his suitcase in hand. This boat was different from the last. It seemed to be the perfect mix of a cruise ship and a cargo ship. The anterior was white with blue accents and a gold anchor painted on the side. 

He approached the long bridgeway that ascended to the boat. He walked up the incline for a while until he was held up by a line of people in front of him. Impatient, Duke tried to look past them to see why they’d slowed down. He faintly heard Facepatch’s voice greeting the passengers individually. That explained the holdup. There seemed to be a lot of people boarding, but the boat was easily big enough to sustain them all. 

It was finally his turn to be greeted by Facepatch. Facepatch put his hand forward instinctively, but blinked in surprise when he saw who it was he was greeting. “Duke? I’m surprised to see you here. I would’ve thought you’d never want to see the ocean again.”

He shrugged as he shook his hand. “That wasn’t enough to keep me away from the water.”

“I like that attitude!” Facepatch exclaimed.

Duke smiled as he walked away from Facepatch, but quickly returned to a frown when he was out of sight. He scanned the boat’s lido deck and saw a small stage in front of a pool. Lights on strings were connected to each side. Most of their surroundings seemed typical for a cruise ship, except for the random cargo crates scattered around the deck. Facepatch’s old boat had seemed to be like a cargo vessel that sometimes functioned as a cruise ship, but this boat seemed to be more of a cruise ship repurposed as a cargo boat. Either way, this definitely was a party boat, but Duke was not in a mood for a celebration. There was nothing to celebrate when there was an imbalance of justice. 

He found a chair near the railing and sat down. He looked out at the city that he’d soon be leaving behind. Somewhere out there Daisy was hiding, with no remorse for what she had done to her city. Maybe all this free time on the cruise could be spent by looking over the city map for places they needed to search next. 

A voice on a microphone rang through the deck, averting everyone’s attention towards the stage. Captain Facepatch was up there addressing the passengers. 

“Hello crew. I am Captain Facepatch. I will be the one navigating us through the seas. I’d just like to welcome you all aboard the new Explorers of the Sea. You might’ve heard the fate of the last ship, but no need to worry, this one is equipped with a flotation device in every room! We will begin your voyage here shortly, but first I wanted to give a special shout-out to Duke Detain for saving me a few weeks ago. This wouldn’t be possible without him!” 

The crowd clapped as they turned to Duke. He awkwardly smiled and waved at the people from the chair that he was still sitting at.

Facepatch continued. “Just a small reminder that tomorrow is pirate day so everyone should dress like a pirate! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the trip!”

Captain Facepatch exited off the stage, ending his announcements. Duke’s attention drifted back to the city, until he noticed Facepatch standing next to him. 

“Duke, I wanted to more personally tell you how grateful I am that you helped me out that night.” The captain’s voice sounded much gentler when he was talking one-on-one rather than making an announcement onstage.

“Don’t thank me yet. There’s still more work that needs to be done. We need to bring Daisy to justice first.”

Facepatch shrugged. “That’s not really what matters to me. I’m just glad that we have a hero like you.” 

It was impossible to see Facepatch smile, but his eye hinted at one. Duke was baffled that Facepatch didn’t seem to see Daisy’s attempted murder as a big deal. How could he move on so fast? 

Facepatch gestured his hand for Duke to stand. “Come. I want to give you a tour of the ship before you get settled in.”


	7. Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little warning, one of the characters has a very dark and disturbing backstory, but it isn't detailed.

The sun shone through the small circular window. Duke stretched in bed to wake his body. He got a decent amount of sleep, especially compared to the previous nights. He’d worked some of those nights, but even on his nights off, he would lie awake in bed, constantly checking his phone to see if there were any updates about Daisy. But here, away from internet connection, his phone was useless except to check the time. 

Duke pushed the covers off to the side and got out of his bed. A loud thump on the ground made him slightly jump. He looked over the side of his bed and saw that his journal lay sprawled on the floor. He journaled most nights to write out his feelings, but he must’ve fallen asleep last night while writing. 

He picked it up from the floor and looked at the last page he wrote. Similar to past nights, he’d ranted about Daisy and his situation. Normally he found journaling to be therapeutic, especially since he didn’t usually have someone he could share his feelings with, but now it just left him with a lingering sense of frustration. He closed his journal and placed it in a small drawer in his nightstand. 

He pulled out his small suitcase from under his bed to pick out his outfit. He remembered that it was pirate day, and while he didn’t really feel like dressing up, he also didn’t want to be the only person who wasn’t dressed like a pirate. He put on a tight white shirt, and tucked that into some jeans. He grabbed a bandanna and tied it around his forehead, then put in a singular hoop earring, going for a minimalist look. Once he was completely ready, he opened his cabin room door and made his way down the hall to the breakfast buffet. 

Everyone he passed was dressed as a pirate, as he expected. Some were subtle like him, but others went all-out in crazy costumes. The passengers were also participating in various pirate-themed activities, like sword fighting, shooting cannons, and dodging barrels. He was not interested in any of these activities, so he walked right by them. His plan was to eat some breakfast and go back to his room. 

Once he grabbed his breakfast, he sat down at a table far away from everyone that overlooked the ocean. The sea stretched as far as the horizon, where it met the equally vast sky. Everything was blue as far as he could see. He quietly ate his food as the sounds of cheering in the distance signaled the other vacationers having fun on board. 

He heard someone approaching and saw Captain Facepatch making his way to his table. The captain pulled out a chair and sat next to him.

A slight concern crossed Duke’s mind. “Aren’t you supposed to be steering the ship?”

“Not now. I’ve got the ship on autopilot. I like to come out here and see everyone dressed as pirates and having a good time. You are only doing half of those things. What’s bothering you?”

Duke shrugged. “Nothing,” he said before taking another bite.

“I respect it if you don’t want to say anything, but I assure you, it’ll make you feel better if you do.”

Duke sat there for a moment before he sighed. “Captain, how are you not angry about what happened? I still don’t get it. Daisy destroyed your ship, tried to steal your treasure, and nearly killed you, yet you seem unfazed.”

Facepatch leaned further in his seat. “I like to give those who wrong me the benefit of the doubt. And I’ve just learned that dwelling on the dreadful things in life doesn’t do me any good.”

Duke couldn’t process how Facepatch could say all that. How could he just freely give Daisy the benefit of the doubt when everything she’d done seemed so intentional?

Facepatch seemed to sense Duke was still bothered. “Here, come with me for some tea.”

He reluctantly followed Facepatch through the carpeted hallways up to the bridge of the boat. Facepatch opened the door to the room where he controlled the vessel. The room itself looked clean and inviting, and the large windows let in natural lighting that brightened up the atmosphere. The large windows also offered a great view of the deck and the surrounding ocean. Duke even noticed a gold doorknob was placed on a table nearby. Facepatch probably brought it onboard to keep a part of his treasure close. 

Duke sat down at a table and waited until Facepatch poured hot water into teacups. He passed Duke a teabag, which Duke dipped into his cup. Facepatch did the same with his own cup. Duke gently blew the steam away. He looked up and saw Facepatch slightly lifting his mask to take a sip of his tea.

“You know,” Facepatch said, “I said it before, but I admire that you made it aboard. Most people would hate ships and open water after what happened, but it seems that you are quite resilient.”

Duke shrugged. “The ocean has never bothered me. It’s just the heartless people that do.”

Facepatch pressed the question. “But you’ve had so many bad experiences with the ocean. You nearly were lost at sea in the Brickmuda Heptagon, then more recently, you just about drowned. Why are you so willing to forgive the ocean, but not people?” 

“The ocean isn’t alive. It doesn’t have any intentions to hurt others.”

“I’d disagree. The ocean is very much alive. It has strengths and weaknesses just like any other person. It’s inconsistent, daring, and energetic, all of which are qualities of a living creature. Understanding the ocean helps us build a relationship with it. Truly taking the time to understand someone is one of the most important things you can do.”

Duke took a sip of his tea. “I don’t think understanding is important. It doesn’t matter why Daisy blew up the ship. She still needs to pay, no matter what her motivation was.”

Facepatch set down his tea cup. “Is it ok if I show you something? I warn you, it might be shocking.”

Duke nodded, curious. Facepatch brought his hands to the back of his head, detaching his mask from his face. Underneath revealed a face mangled by deep scars cratered on the right side.

“Years ago I proposed an idea that pirates should be more than barbaric selfish bandits. At the time, my pirate crew consisted of my family and my friends. They all thought that was crazy. In fact, they thought I was a complete disgrace as a pirate. All I wanted was to fix the image of a pirate. I wanted to focus on the adventure side, rather than the thieving, plundering side. I was bullied for a while, and threatened. But I stood firm in my beliefs. One night, they grabbed me from my bed, and did this to my face. They tied me up, and put me on a rowboat to drift out to sea and eventually die. I was lucky to be found later.”

Duke was speechless for a moment. “That’s...absolutely terrible! I’m sorry that your crew did that to you.”

Facepatch nodded. “My crew believed I was a disgrace just because I saw the world differently. They simply didn’t understand me. That’s why it’s very important to understand those that are different from you. If you don’t take the time to listen to others, you run the risk of dehumanizing them. Loss of empathy is a dangerous thing. Now, I understand that your situation is quite a bit different, but I’d hate to see you judging Daisy before you understood her.”

Duke was silent for a moment as he contemplated what Facepatch told him. The captain’s story put everything into perspective for Duke. He had been so angry about what had happened, but Facepatch had gone through worse, and even though his physical scars would never heal, he had found a way to heal his emotional wounds. Duke realized he had been holding on to hatred for too long, and it had been tainting his beliefs. Daisy at least deserved to have her side of the story heard before he decided whether she was a bad person. “Yeah, you’re right. But I don’t know how exactly I can chat with her. She’s been missing for two weeks.”

Facepatch nodded. “That may be challenging, but I believe you are capable. You don’t quit that easily.”

Duke was glad that Facepatch had faith in him. For once, Duke didn’t feel overwhelmed by his angry thoughts. He was still impatient to find Daisy, but now, he wanted to find Daisy for a different reason: he wanted to hear her side of the story. Maybe she had been desperate, or maybe it had been an accident or misunderstanding. He wouldn’t find out unless he talked with her. 

Facepatch took one last sip on his tea and smiled warmly at Duke before putting his mask back on. “Let's go back out to the deck. I hear they are starting a competition of dodging the barrels. I believe you’d do very well.”

* * *

Hunger ached through Daisy’s stomach. It sapped her of all energy until eventually, the exhaustion became overwhelming. She hadn’t eaten anything for the past few days, and it had been two weeks since she had any sort of decent meal. She sat against the crates at Snake’s place. Had she really been on the run for two weeks? Everything felt like a blur since she became a fugitive. Now, she barely even remembered what it was like to be able to walk the streets without the fear of being seen.

Her stomach rumbled again, but she had no choice but to sit through the pain. It wasn’t smart for her to be on the lookout for food in broad daylight. She thought of the irony that she still had her phone and motorcycle, yet didn’t have food, but of course, she couldn’t sell her stuff without getting caught. She sat in a half-delirious state until the sun finally set.

When night had fully set in, she snuck out of her hiding place and looked for a trash bin. Her best option for food was rummaging through the garbage before Shirley cleared it out. She felt disgusting as she nibbled on the food scraps, and it barely took the edge off of her hunger. 

She wondered, not for the first time, if she should turn herself in and face a life sentence for something she didn’t even do. At least she’d be fed something in prison. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep this up. She had faced so many close calls already, and it only felt like a matter of time before the authorities found her.

She did have one more plan, but it was her last-resort, because it was risky. She thought about it and realized she hardly cared anymore. If she failed and was sent to prison, who would she even have to miss? Her life in prison would surely not be as pitiful as her life now.

The next day, she grabbed a black cloth she’d found earlier in the trash and wrapped it around herself. It wasn’t much of a disguise, but her greased hair and unhealthy state might actually help her in this case. She pulled out her keys and walked outside. 

She squinted at the sight of the sun. She hadn’t stepped out in it in a while. She hopped on her motorcycle, and as she drove, she desperately hoped nobody would recognize her. Normally she would avoid riding her motorcycle, as the loud motor made stealth just about impossible. But she had to drive to be able to reach her destination quickly: the junkyard. Harl would be there, and she was going to get food that way. 

Once she arrived she tried to hide her motorcycle among the heaps of junk. She kept her head down as she made her way to the Helpful Harl Handyman Hut. She approached the counter without looking up at Harl.

“Hello! How can I help?” Harl asked.

She altered her voice slightly so she wouldn’t be recognized. “I just need some food, and water.”

“No problem!” 

Harl disappeared under the counter and popped back up after a brief moment. He brought out a huge three-course meal with a gallon of water. Harl always went overboard with the helping, but she was glad she was Harl’d. She stared at the large amount of food with a watery mouth.

“Thanks, Harl. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“It’s nothing! Please don’t hesitate to stop by again, Daisy!”

Daisy’s heart palpated rapidly. “You… You know it’s me?”

Harl smiled at her. “I knew the second you stepped up to my counter. I think you need a better disguise than a cloth over your head!”

Daisy was stunned. “Why didn’t you call the cops on me?”

Harl looked at her sincerely. “I can tell when someone needs help.”

Harl’s compassion left Daisy speechless. She didn’t think a single soul cared for her. She knew Harl was helpful, but she didn’t think he would extend his helpfulness to someone who was convicted of a terrible crime. Yet he was helping her anyway. Her breath hitched, and she realized she’d needed Harl’s understanding more than his food.

“If you’d like,” Harl said, “I can chat with Cluster to see if you can stay here. That way, you won’t have to travel for food.”

“You’d really do that?”

“Sure! Plus a junkyard is a great place to hide. I would know!”

Daisy was left to process her disbelief as Harl grabbed the food from the back counter. 

He passed her the food. “Here, take it. I’ll talk with Cluster and see if he can spare some space here.”

He walked off and left Daisy with the fresh food. Never before had anything tasted so fantastic, even if it was just tacos. She had to restrain herself from eating it too fast. She was still working on her food when Harl came back.

“Cluster said you are fine to stay! Also, I was just about to take my lunch break. We can eat together if you’d like.”

Daisy couldn’t believe it was that simple. Did this mean she no longer had to scavenge and hide in fear? This hadn’t changed her status as a fugitive, but it made her realize she had a chance at a decent life again. The relief of the situation finally flooded over her, and she felt tears coming to her eyes. 

Harl pulled out a blanket and set it out on the ground so they could have a picnic. Harl sat down and patted the floor next to him for Daisy to sit. She grabbed her food from the counter and sat down next to him. He took a bite out of a sandwich. 

“So, where have you been hiding out?” Harl asked. “Do you have a lair you’ve been using?”

“Not really. I’ve been staying at Snake’s old place.”

“Old place? Does he have a new one?”

Daisy pushed down the sadness that came with the memory of the last time she’d seen him. “Not exactly. He left town… for good.”

Harl stopped eating his sandwich. “My twin left?”

Daisy nodded in response, not wanting to elaborate. She had settled into a feeling of numbness for a while now, and thinking about the life she used to have was painful. But suddenly, all the pain of the past few weeks came back to her, and after being alone for so long, Daisy couldn’t help but pour out all the emotions she had kept bottled up.

“Harl, I'm innocent, I swear. I didn’t sink the boat. Duke probably thinks I tried to kill him, but that wasn’t me!”

Harl gave her a gentle smile. “I believe you.”

Daisy blinked as she fought back tears. “All I want to do is clear my name, but if I come forward, they’ll put me away for a life sentence. All I need is some evidence against Fendrich.”

Harl nodded as she spoke. “So Fendrich was the one who destroyed the boat? I’m surprised that nobody has discovered that he’s a criminal yet.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking. But I don’t know how I can prove he’s guilty. Lately, it just seems like everything is going wrong.”

“That sounds really rough. If you want to, you can talk to me about that. Would that be helpful?”

Daisy sat in silence for a moment. “I think it would.” She took a breath before she began “A lot has happened to me lately. A few weeks ago, my mom suddenly kicked me out of her place. She’s...never been kind to me. Snake let me stay with him, but then we had a falling out. Now, he’s gone ‘cause he’s mad. Then I was framed, and Duke thinks I’m responsible for the boat, and well, I’ve been hiding since. It’s been so...lonely,” Daisy could feel a lump forming in her throat, but she continued. “I miss having people to rely on, I even just miss having someone to talk to. But I don’t think I have a single person in this city who cares about me.” Her voice quivered during that last sentence.

“Well I care about you.” Harl looked up at her and smiled warmly.

Daisy couldn’t stop the tears from coming. “H-Harl…”

Harl opened his arms, and Daisy couldn’t help but fall into his arms and sob. She was a complete mess, crying all over Harl’s shirt. 

“Daisy, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

She was crying too hard to say “thanks”, but she hugged him harder to show her appreciation.

* * *

“And the winner of ‘dodge the barrels’ is… Duke Detain!”

The crowd cheered as Captain Facepatch gave him a small medal. Duke shifted his posture, a little uncomfortable with the praise. It hadn’t been all that difficult for him. All he did was shoulder roll. 

“In an hour, we’ll start cannon shooting!” Facepatch proclaimed. “Please keep enjoying the cruise!”

The crowd dispersed and left Duke and Facepatch alone on the deck. Facepatch went over to the railing and Duke followed. He looked down at the water. It was fairly loud as it crashed against the quick moving boat. The scent of sea salt hung in the air.

“Duke, what do you think makes a good pirate?”

Duke was taken aback by the sudden question, but he thought for a moment. “Well, I think they should be adventurous, good at sailing, and should occasionally find treasure.”

Facepatch nodded. “Those are good traits, but what I think makes a pirate is their crew. A pirate is able to accomplish so much more with a crew than they could alone, and that’s why I want to extend an apprenticeship to you. I’ve been looking for a first mate who’s willing to work right beside me. Billy Bones was last in the position, but, well, after he betrayed me, I’ve been needing a new one. I know you have no experience with sailing, but as my apprentice, I would teach you everything you need to know. So, what do you say?”

“Captain, I really appreciate that offer. You would think I’d be sick of the ocean but I actually enjoy it. I would love to work side by side with you, but...my priorities are protecting my city. Until I can find a way to effectively protect the city from the sea, I’m going to have to respectfully decline.”

“That’s quite alright. I understand the need to protect others.”


	8. Snowstorm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blood warning! Also, this chapter could be pretty triggering for some audiences because what happens is a potentially realistic thing to happen. Sorry for being vague, but I don't want to spoil it. If you have questions/ concerns feel free to contact me.

Duke placed his journal on top of the clothes he had packed, then zipped up his suitcase. It was time for all the passengers on the ship to leave and return to the city, and Duke was surprised to find he’d actually enjoyed the vacation, and was a little sad it was over. But he was still as ready as ever to resume his duties. 

He picked up his luggage and left his room, making his way to the people gathering around the off-ramp. Outside dark clouds formed overhead, bringing a cold wind with them. If there was a storm coming, it was probably for the best that they got off the boat. 

Facepatch was out again shaking everyone’s hands as they left. Once he got to Duke, he smiled under his mask. “Don’t forget what I told you. Try to understand Daisy before making any judgments. And if you ever change your mind about that apprenticeship, just let me know.”

“I will. Thank you, Captain.”

Facepatch tilted his hat and nodded as his way of saying goodbye. Duke walked down the ramp to the docks and fought against the freezing wind to reach his car. He felt refreshed as he made his way back to the station.

* * *

Once he walked through the station doors, Wheelie came in on his skateboard.

“Bro! You’re back! How was it?”

“It was actually pretty great, chief. The ocean is a calming place… most of the time. Any updates?”

“Don’t freak out dude...but still nothing. But hey, since you seem to be in a better mood, you can go out and search for her again.”

“Sure, I’ll do a patrol around the city.” This would give him the opportunity to find her, but he wouldn’t arrest her right away; he would talk with her first, as Facepatch suggested. Maybe then he’d find out why she’d done it. It was important he try to find her soon, because if the others found her first, they might not give her the chance to explain herself.

Wheelie gave him a thumbs-up and let him leave the station. Duke hopped into his car and drove around. He visited the main square and downtown area, then drove by the fire station but there was nothing unusual. He continued his patrol, checking out any place he could think of. He even searched Tippy’s old abandoned evil lair. But there were no signs of her anywhere. 

Duke hadn’t expected the search to go easily, so he kept looking. His searching eventually brought him down a street lined with stores. Harl Hubbs walked out of one, carrying some clothes. 

Duke pulled over, rolled down his window and greeted him. “Hello, Harl. How are you doing? I see you just walked out of the--” he squinted at the building Harl came from. “The leather store?” He noticed the types of clothes Harl was carrying: a small leather jacket and some black leather boots. “Who are those for?”

Harl looked panicked. “O-oh! These are for… me! I want to start wearing leather.” He struggled as he tried to put on the red jacket that was way too small for him. As he twisted his body awkwardly to fit into the jacket, Duke noticed the design of a bomb on the back.

“Is that  _ Daisy’s  _ jacket?”

Harl cringed. “I… I’m not harboring a fugitive!”

Duke glanced to the sides to make sure nobody was around to overhear them. He lowered his voice to calm down Harl. “Please, Harl. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I just want to speak with Daisy, not as an officer, but as her friend. I promise I won’t arrest her, and neither one of you will get in trouble. I understand that she was probably in a hard position with no options, so she turned to crime. I just want to speak with her. I’ll give you all twenty-seven pairs of my handcuffs to prove I won’t arrest her, just please let me see her.”

Harl looked defeated. “Ok, fine. But please listen to her, because she never even committed the crime, she’s innocent!”

“Wait, she didn’t sink the boat?”

“No! But if you want more information, you can ask her in person. Just please trust her.”

Duke was grateful the handyman was willing to help him out. Harl’s claims of Daisy’s innocence really caught his attention. If that was true, it would change everything. He needed to speak to Daisy about that. “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll listen to her. When do you want me to talk to her?”

“How about tonight, at the junkyard. Make sure you come alone with no handcuffs.”

“Thank you so much, Harl.”

Harl still looked uncomfortable, but nodded. A gust of cold wind hit their faces.

“You better get inside soon,” Duke advised. “It looks like a storm is blowing in.”

* * *

  
  
  


Snow blew over Duke’s windshield as he drove to the junkyard. In response, he flicked up the lever by his wheel to activate the windshield wipers. It was technically the beginning of spring, so Duke hadn’t been expecting it to snow. Perhaps he should’ve seen it coming, since the incoming wind had been so chilly. 

As Duke was driving down the dark road, he couldn’t help but grip his hands tightly against the wheel. He was stressed. He had no idea what he was going to hear from Daisy. Beyond that, he was also worried about the fact that he wouldn’t be arresting her. A warrant was out for her arrest, and Duke would be shirking his police responsibilities if he visited her without arresting her. But no one had to know… He hadn’t said a word about this meeting with Chief Wheelie or Captain Bennett, and he intended to keep it a secret from them. He didn’t fully like it, but the risk was worth it to give Daisy a chance. 

The thought that Daisy might be innocent also played on repeat in his mind. It sounded a little too good to be true, but maybe there had been a misunderstanding? Facepatch’s description of the robber had matched Daisy perfectly, but maybe she hadn’t been involved with the dynamite? Maybe that had been someone else who had tried to rob Facepatch at the same time Daisy did. And if so, who was the one truly behind the detonations? 

Snow was coming down even harder. The visibility worsened, and Duke snapped himself out of his thoughts to concentrate on his driving. His arm hairs rose as the temperature dropped. It definitely wasn’t the weather for short sleeves. Duke cranked up the heat and felt a rush of warm air hit his face. 

Although his muscles eventually eased up from the shivering, his anxiety didn’t go away. Usually he would have New Car to talk to, but Tom Bennett still hadn’t given that car back.  Maybe it was better this way. New Car probably wouldn’t be on board with this meet-up anyway. 

He flinched when he looked at his speedometer and saw he was going 65 mph on a 40 mph street. He was so distracted by his worries that he didn’t notice how dangerously fast he was going. Usually New Car would fix his speed automatically. Luckily, there was nobody on this road to see his mistake. 

He quickly put his foot on the brakes to slow down his speed. But the wheel resisted his direction, causing him to swerve. 

Instinctively he pressed harder on the brakes but that only made things worse. His car spun completely out of control. Duke’s world seemed to be in slow motion and he barely had time to fear what would happen next before the car collided in a sudden moment of earth-shattering force and screaming metal. Duke was thrown forward violently before being jerked back by his seatbelt and the airbag. Glass rained down on him, and suddenly, there was only silence. 

Terrible pain shot through Duke’s head and right arm. His car was crumpled all around him. Disoriented, he looked around him and saw an electric pole had completely smashed through the right side of the car and hung right over the passenger seat. 

Disorientation was replaced with fear and adrenaline as the realization of what had happened to him started to kick in. His head throbbed with a pain intensity he had never felt before. He was badly hurt. Duke had been in many crashes before, but he knew that his situation was serious this time. 

No cars appeared to be nearby, so Duke knew he had to contact someone. He looked around for his walkie talkie and found it lodged between his seat and the car door. Before he could use the walkie talkie, he saw a small flicker of light from above his head. It took him a moment to realize those were sparks. He saw smoke rise from the smashed hood. The smell of gasoline and burning flames flooded his senses. A little part of him remembered it was dangerous to move after an accident, but this car was going up in flames. 

He pushed on the door. It gave lots of resistance, but miraculously it opened. He registered the wet snow surrounding the car and realized he was in danger of getting electrocuted. But he knew he had to escape the car. 

He practically jumped out of his car, to avoid creating a full circuit. Luckily he was not electrocuted when he hit the ground. It was probably because the electric pole wires were still suspended off the ground and not touching his car. But the sparks cascading down from the live wires still threatened his situation. 

It was too hard to stand on the ice, and he felt very dizzy, so he got down and crawled across the road, dragging himself across the slick pavement.

He gritted his teeth and he groaned with every excruciating movement. His right arm seared with pain as he dragged his weight, so his left side did most of the work. He didn’t dare look at his right arm. He didn’t need to see it to know it was bad. He just focused on putting one arm in front of the other, letting that bring clarity through the pain. 

As he dragged himself slowly, he noticed blood dotted the snow around him and vaguely noticed blood dripping from his head, covering his right eye completely. Duke looked back at his car and saw it was now violently flickering with flames. In his confusion, he almost forgot to contact help. He remembered his walkie talkie was still in his hand. He pressed the button on the side and started talking.

“I’m down.”

Duke hardly recognized his own voice. He heard another voice come from the speakers. He didn’t recognize who it was, he could hardly make out the words.

“Lieutenant? Where are you?! What happened?”

It must’ve been the adrenaline fading, but suddenly his senses seemed to be magnified. His pain was so extraordinary that he stopped pulling himself on the ground and collapsed. He couldn’t even lift his head and left his cheek in the cold snow. His vision was growing more and more blurred. All he could make out was the white of the snow, and soft red and blue lights flashing in the distance. He felt as if he were being sent down a tunnel, where everything seemed to be far away. The last thing he saw was a pair of legs approaching him until everything faded to black.

* * *

Daisy’s teeth chattered, both from the cold and from her nervous anticipation. Duke would be here at any moment, and she’d finally be able to explain the truth to him, but this meet-up would offer him the perfect opportunity to arrest her if he wanted to. He’d promised Harl he wouldn’t, but Daisy still felt on edge. 

“Wow the snow is really picking up!” Harl said from beside her. 

Daisy rubbed her arms. The cold was starting to numb her limbs. “Are you sure Duke didn’t give you a specific time? You just agreed to meet tonight, right?”

“Yeah. But, well, you know Duke. He’s a busy guy. Let’s be patient and give him more time.”

Snow was falling steadily, coating the surrounding junkyard, and soon, she could barely see a few yards in front of her. The growing snowdrifts sucked all remaining heat out of the air, making the already cold night even more freezing. 

“Harl, we’re going to get frostbite if we stay out here any longer. If Duke wants to talk to us, he’s just going to have to meet us inside.”

Harl looked up at the snowstorm. “I guess you’re right. Want me to make some hot cocoa? Freya doesn’t have to be the only one who gets to enjoy it!”

They trudged through the slippery snow when the sounds of distant sirens filled the air, muffled by the snowfall. 

“Well that doesn’t sound too good.” Harl said. “Maybe that’s what’s holding up Duke? Maybe he was called to help out with whatever emergency is going on?”

Daisy exhaled, sending out a cloud of vapor. “If so, all that waiting was for nothing. Great.” 

“I can talk to Duke later, if he never comes. We can work out another time to meet.”

“Sounds good. Now, let’s get inside before I turn into an icicle.”

Once they were back inside, they became all warmed up thanks to Harl’s hot cocoa. At that point, about an hour had passed and still no Duke. Apparently he wasn’t coming after all. Either that, or he was incredibly late. 

Daisy noticed a small, portable radio propped up on the wall. She pointed it out to Harl. “Think there’ll be anything on the news about why all those sirens were going off?”

Harl shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you turn it on and check?”

Daisy turned it on and tuned it to the news station. It just talked about the sudden snowstorm and advised people to stay indoors. Daisy rolled her eyes. Sometimes the weather forecast was so pointless; you could just look outside and see the weather for yourself. Why did you need someone to tell you that for you? She impatiently waited through the weather report when a breaking news report cut in.

Daisy jumped, and turned up the volume. “This could be it.”

“I’m Gabby Tocamera, here with terrible breaking news.” 

Daisy had never heard a report start like that. She looked at Harl, anxiety quickening her heartbeat. Harl looked equally worried. What had happened?

“About an hour ago, a car crashed into an electrical pole, seriously injuring the driver. He is currently at the hospital in critical condition. I regret to inform you that that driver was Duke Detain.”

Daisy froze, her mind completely stopped working. “No…”

“Doctors are doing everything they can, but right now he’s unconscious and unresponsive. Any updates will be covered as they come in.”

If Gabby said anything else, Daisy didn’t hear. It was all too much to handle. 

Duke was seriously hurt. Duke was  _ hurt _ , and it was possible that he could never recover from this. 

Daisy might lose her friend, this time for good.


	9. The Truth

There was a soft beeping in the distance. It was the only thing that kept him in touch with reality. His eyes still hadn’t open yet, but he was trying. He tried to wiggle his fingers, but he felt that he was unable to move them. Once his mind was more in a conscious state, his eye lids flung open. 

The first thing he saw was a tiled ceiling, illuminated in the dark room by a faint glow. Where was he? Although he felt weak, he lifted his head from the bed he was laying on. He saw a heart monitor to his side and realized that was the source of the beeping. Beside that was a night stand that held flowers in a vase and cards. He put the pieces together that he was laying in a hospital room. What happened? 

His confusion was averted by a sound of a person speed-walking down the hallway just outside his closed door.

“We’ve got a code blue on floor three!”

The sound of footsteps grew louder, then faded as a group of people moved past his room. 

He looked down and saw his right arm was wrapped up. It must’ve been hurt somehow. He looked at his other arm and saw a tubing inserted in the crook of his arm that hooked up to a bag. That bag was attached to something on wheels. It took almost all his energy to sit up. His muscles felt very weak, and every movement felt foreign. He was in no pain, but he felt dizzy and tired, like he was sitting up for the first time in a long while.

The sound of a motorcycle driving out the window to his left interested him. Something about it compelled him out of his bed. He tried standing up, but just about lost his balance at first. Once the room stopped spinning, he walked to the window. Using his fingers to peek through the blinds, he saw a motorcycle driving down the lamplit street. There was something about the revving motor that seemed oddly familiar, but he didn’t know why. 

As he walked more, he started to get the hang of it, though the tube in his arm prevented him from moving very far. He realized the room lights were off, so he decided to walk over to the nightstand, which held a lamp. In order to reach it, he brought the bag on wheels over with him. The lamp made a clicking sound as he pulled on the string. 

With the room better illuminated, he saw more details. A painting of a ruby on the wall above caught his attention. His gaze dropped back to his nightstand, to the cards that piled around the lamp and flower vases. He moved his hand the cards and picked up a large one that had many different handwritings scrawled over it. One of the small notes on the card said, “Get better soon, bro!”

Who wrote that? Was it meant for him? He moved back over to the foot of the bed, and nearly tripped over the tubing that was connected to his arm. It kept getting in his way, so he peeled off the tape that surrounded the tubing and winced as he pulled it out. 

Once he reached the foot of the bed he saw a small folder tucked on the bed frame. He picked it up and started reading. The top of the folder said “Duke Detain” and he went down to the section that was labeled as “notes.”

“Patient sustained major injuries due to a car wreck. Transferred the patient to a trauma center. EMS wrapped his right arm that had a laceration from the deltoid to the bottom of the humerus.”

He looked over at his right arm again and lightly touched it. It didn’t hurt at all… was this report even about him? He looked under his bandaging and saw a clean scar that was closed up with stitches. It seemed to be healing effectively. He went back to the notes.

“Patient also suffered a deep laceration to his right shoulder.”

He glanced over to that shoulder. It didn’t hurt either, but it was under a square bandage. What he was reading didn’t feel real to him. But all the notes added up to his condition.

“After flushing out the right eye, the cornea was heavily damaged leaving blindness in the right eye.”

He closed his left eye to test the condition of his injured eye. There was nothing but darkness through that eye, even though it was open. Luckily, his left eye still worked.

“Patient suffered a GCS 3 due to brain injury.”

He had no idea what a GCS meant, but the brain injury part concerned him. He felt his head, but it seemed fine? 

“A CT scan was completed and showed swelling in the hippocampus. Memory loss could have occurred, but cannot be diagnosed until the patient is out of his coma.”

Coma? Memory loss? He scanned the rest of the report and learned that he had been in a coma for two weeks. That probably explained his weak muscles. But still, the phrase “memory loss” disturbed his thoughts. He tried to think back to any memories he had prior to his coma, but he drew a blank. His breath caught when he realized he couldn’t even remember his name. 

Who _was_ he? 

He glanced back over at the name on the folder. He remembered the name in the report was “Duke Detain”. Maybe that was his name? But something about it felt disconnected to him. He focused on the word “Duke”. That part at least felt familiar. 

Suddenly it all clicked. Memories flooded back to him that nearly took him off-balance. He set down the folder and looked up at the painting of the ruby with a smile. He knew exactly who he was. He was Dirty Duke.

* * *

The crooks sat around the table at their hideout, playing cards. Fendrich had been holding off on giving the gang any more jobs for quite a while now. After what had happened with the fake treasure, their boss hadn’t been eager to give them any new assignments. Because of this, they spent most of their days lazing around and playing some games here and there. 

Quite frankly, Hacksaw was fine with this. He wasn’t in the mood for any crimes anyways, especially lately. He’d been very preoccupied. Hacksaw squirmed in discomfort, not looking up from his cards at his friends. He had a secret that he hadn’t told anyone. He was planning on turning against Fendrich. 

Over the past few weeks he had been collecting evidence against his boss. He actually had everything he needed to present a convincing case against Fendrich, but he had a hard time going through with his plan. By showing evidence against Fendrich and convicting him of his crimes, Hacksaw would also be convicting himself in the process. He’d assisted the boss with all his crimes, after all. That wasn’t even the part that scared him. It terrified him that he would also be bringing his friends down with him. They all helped Fendrich,and he didn’t think they would be on board risking their freedom to clear Daisy’s name.

Betty looked at him with concern.“Hacksaw are you alright? It’s been your turn to put a card down for nearly five minutes.”

“I… I’m fine…” he lied. He didn’t want to admit that he was considering betraying them.

Betty took his hand and stood up. She looked back at Frankie, Clara and Vito. “Just give us a minute.”

She took him to a separate room and shut the door. “Hacksaw, what’s the matter? You’ve been acting down for a long time. I care about you too much to see you continuing to lie, saying that you're fine. Tell me what’s really going on.”

“Please don’t hate me.”

Bettys eyes widened as she grabbed his hands. “Hacksaw, I would never hate you!”

He slipped his hands out of hers. “You might… After I betray you.”

“Betray?”

He couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I want to put Fendrich in jail. But by doing so, I’ve got to put out evidence that will prove all of our guiltiness. I don’t want to get us in trouble, but I can’t stand what Fendrich did to everyone.”

“I'm glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

“Really? You feel the same way?”

“Of course! Fendrich is rotten! He deserves it after what he did to Daisy, Facepatch, and Duke! And you know what? I’ll take the consequences as long we get Fendrich a taste of his own medicine.”

Hacksaw beamed, glad he wasn’t the only one who was onboard with taking Fendrich down. But how would their friends feel?

“What about Clara, Vito and Frankie?” Hacksaw asked. “How do you think they’ll react?”

“I’m not too sure… But we can always ask. It does us no good to keep this idea a secret.”

She opened the door and went to confront the others. Hacksaw followed.

“What took you guys so long?” Vito asked

Betty nudged Hacksaw forward. “Tell them.”

Hacksaw drew a sigh before telling them. “Me and Betty were thinking...We want to clear Daisy’s name, but by doing so we have to give the authorities the truth about the boss. It’s likely that we will get a punishment too… but we have to do something to help Daisy! She didn’t deserve what Fendrich did to her! So...what do you guys say?”

Hacksaw held his breath. It was silent for a few moments. Then Frankie set down his cards. “You know… I didn’t want to say anything, but our last heist made me really uncomfortable too. I’ll totally take down Fendrich with you guys.”

Clara glanced at Frankie, then looked up at Hacksaw and Betty. “Yeah, I’m with you guys. The boss went too far this time.”

Vito ran his fingers through his hair. “Fendrich has gotten on my nerves. I'm in. Besides, we’re a team. If one of us goes down to stand up against Fendrich, then all of us should go down with them.”

Hacksaw stood there for a moment, surprised that they all agreed with him, but also grateful for their support. They had a tighter-knit bond than Hacksaw realized. Now he could set his plan in motion without worrying about turning on his friends. They were willing to fall together.

“So, exactly when are we thinking of doing this?” Vito asked

“I’ve got the evidence ready. I say let’s do it now.” Hacksaw said with a hint of worry in his voice.

* * *

Hacksaw shuddered as they approached the police station. Betty placed her hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s ok. You got this. We’ll stick by you the whole time.”

Hacksaw looked over at his team. They were all smiling at him, even Vito and Clara. Hacksaw took a deep breath and walked up the stairs, pushing aside the entrance doors. They walked up to the front desk. Allen was sitting behind it, and he gasped when he saw the crooks approaching. He ducked under his desk, cowering. After a few seconds passed, he peeked above his desk, yelped, and placed a bag on the counter.

“Here take it! I’ve only got inhalers and EpiPens in there but it’s all I have!”

“We aren’t here to rob you,” Hacksaw said in a reassuring tone. “We just want to speak to Wheelie.”

Allen hesitantly got up from behind the desk, still shaking a bit. “I-oh… ok, sure.” 

He pressed a button and spoke into a microphone. “H-hey, Chief? I have people at the front desk who want to speak with you.”

Not long after Allen made that announcement, Wheelie rolled in on his skateboard. The chief looked a little surprised to see the group that wanted to speak with him. “Oh hey. What’s up, dudes?”

Wheelie seemed less enthusiastic than normal. Everyone at the station seemed that way, Hacksaw noticed. It had to be because of Duke… It even hurt Hacksaw to think about it.

Hacksaw lifted up his head. “We wanted to talk to you about Daisy.”

* * *

“So you’re saying that Fendrich is a crime boss, and he was the one who blew up the ship?” Wheelie asked. They’d moved to a table in a separate room. Hacksaw sat across from Captain Bennett and Chief Wheelie. The other crooks stood behind him.

“Yeah, look at this picture.” He showed the officers a picture of the fake door knobs that he had taken a week ago. Luckily, Fendrich had left his office that day because he was too busy yelling at Sinclair, which allowed Hacksaw to sneak the photo.

Tom Bennett put his finger to his chin. “Do you have more evidence?”

Vito pulled out the Daisy costume. “This is what the boss wanted me to wear for the heist. This was so we could frame Daisy.”

Tom Bennett picked up the wig and inspected it.

Wheelie looked at the group. “You got anything else for us?”

“I… I can call Fendrich. If he doesn’t know that I’m trying to get him to confess, he’ll probably say something about it.”

Tom Bennett waved his hand, signaling his permission. Hacksaw dialed in Fendrich’s number and waited as the phone rang. Not long after, Fendrich answered. 

“What is it Hacksaw?”

“So… I never asked you this before, but I noticed on the news the night we stole the fake treasure, you blew up the ship after you told us to leave. Why did you do that?”

Fendrich growled on the other line. “Seriously Hacksaw? You called me just to ask me a question?”

“Well...yeah?”

He grumbled some more but surprisingly, answered the question. “I did it because I wanted to make sure we got rid of any evidence that it was us rather than Daisy. Plus, dynamite seems to be a Daisy thing right? Trust me. I was doing it for our protection. And look, it worked!”

Hacksaw grinned and hung up. “See he just confessed to the crime!”

“And so did you guys,” said Tom Bennett.

Hacksaw’s heart sunk, but he’d been ready for this part.

Wheelie put his hand on Tom Bennett’s shoulder. “Hang on. Let’s have a chat.”

They left the room. Hacksaw stood up and glanced at his crew. They all looked worried for their future.

“Did we do the right thing?” Hacksaw couldn’t help but ask. 

“I sure hope so.” Frankie responded.

Just when the suspense nearly became too much, Tom and Wheelie came back to the room.

“We appreciate what you guys have told us today.” Tom said. “This will change a lot of things from now on. Me and the Chief decided that we will arrest Fendrich for his crimes immediately.”

Wheelie then spoke. “As for you dudes, we decided to let you guys off with a warning. It didn’t sound like you guys committed any other crimes besides stealing a bunch of fake gold. Fendrich was the one who actually caused harm.”

The crooks looked at each other with big smiles.

“Thanks Wheelie and Tom. We appreciate that you guys listened to us.” Betty said.

Wheelie shrugged. “We’re glad you guys came to us with the truth. I just feel bad that Daisy was wrongly accused of this. But at least now that we know the truth, she can finally stop hiding. Speaking of which, do any of you guys know where she is, so we can, you know, tell her she can go back to her regular life?”

They all shook their heads.

Wheelie frowned. “Dang, that sucks. Well, you guys are free to go now.”

Tom and Wheelie walked them out of the room. As they did so, Sam and Rooky walked by. Wheelie stopped them.

“Will you guys do a search around town to find…” Wheelie looked at the crooks then whispered to Sam. Hacksaw was unable to pick up what he said, but he assumed they were talking about Daisy. They looked weirdly suspicious about it, though. Hacksaw shrugged. He was just glad for what had happened. They had successfully got rid of Fendrich while they were only let off with a warning. And Daisy was safe again. 

* * *

“Come on Daisy, you've gotta eat something!” exclaimed Harl.

“Really, I'm fine. I don’t need it. I’m not hungry.” 

It had been two weeks since Duke’s crash, and he was still in a coma. These past few weeks had been miserable. She couldn’t even see her friend in the hospital without risking getting caught. Harl visited him in the hospital and said it looked like he was sleeping. It was really hard to not be by Duke's side, especially when his future was uncertain. Many times she considered breaking into the hospital and sneaking into his room, just to see him for even a moment. But Harl convinced her out of it every time.

Daisy’s hopes that he would wake up were fading with each passing day. If only there was something she could do! At least as a fugitive, she had the ability to take control of her situation by hiding and avoiding the cops. But Duke’s coma was completely out of her control. Now, even if by some miracle her name was cleared, she still wouldn’t be able to be with her friend. The bleakness of the situation left her with a numbing sense of sadness.

The whole situation was made worse by the fact that there were a few rumors circling around that the crash had been sabotaged by Daisy, even though there was absolutely no evidence. Daisy had tried to kill Duke once, some people claimed, so why wouldn’t she try again? It made her literally sick to her stomach. If those people had any idea how much this news was affecting her, they would never be making those horrible conspiracies in the first place.

Harl gasped. “Daisy, hide! I see police cars coming!”

Daisy jumped. The cars came with no sirens, and no warning. Daisy scrambled away and hid behind a heaping pile of scraps and junk. She couldn’t risk running and catching their attention. She peeked through a small gap and saw a police car approach Harl. Rooky and Sam came out.

“Hello, Rooky and Sam!” Harl said with an uneasy smile. “How can I help you?”

Sam spoke. “We are looking for someone.”

Harl panicked. “I swear Daisy isn’t here!”

Daisy nearly planted her palm in her face. Harl always cracked under pressure. She braced herself, in case she needed to make a break for it.

Rooky’s eyes widened. “Haven’t you heard the news? The warrant to arrest Daisy has been dropped. Her name’s been cleared! Hacksaw Hank and the other crooks came forward with evidence that it was Fendrich who actually framed Daisy.”

Daisy froze. 

“Wait really?!” Harl’s mouth fell open. “You mean, Daisy isn’t wanted anymore?”

“Yeah. She didn’t do anything wrong, so we don’t need her.”

Daisy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was all so surreal. Was it true? Were her days as a wanted criminal _finally_ over? She clutched onto a bent metal bar as a powerful wave of energy and relief surged through her body.

_Thank you Hacksaw,_ she thought. _Thank you so much._

“So, if you’re not looking for Daisy, why are you here?” Harl asked.

Sam and Rooky looked at each other with expressions that were difficult to read. Rooky was the one to answer. “You can’t really tell anyone, but...it’s Duke. He woke up from his coma last night. We don’t know why, it could have been because of his brain damage, but he escaped from the hospital and we have no clue where he is.”


	10. A New Identity

Dirty Duke scoured Duke’s apartment, looking for clothes and supplies. He had escaped the hospital only a short time earlier, and someone had ran into him and assumed he’d been sent home and needed a ride back to his apartment. Luckily they knew where he lived because he had no idea. He just played along and hoped he’d be taken where he needed to go.

The person had kept referring to him as Duke Detain, which really confused him at first. Why did everyone keep calling him that? First the hospital report, and now this person. Suddenly, everything made sense. Dirty Duke realized that all this time, he had been sharing his life with Duke Detain. That was who’d been in charge before the accident. He didn’t remember anything from that side of him, however. Duke felt like a completely separate person.

Duke’s closet held many identical police outfits, and few other clothes. So Duke was an officer. That was the true explanation for why Dirty Duke had been dressed as a cop in his previous memories. Snake had lied to him that he was a cop gone bad. 

Dirty Duke wasn’t really impressed by the selections, but they were better than a hospital gown. He settled on wearing a black tank top with a blue jacket, black cargo pants and brown boots. The jacket’s style wasn’t quite his, so he ripped off the sleeves. He didn’t care that it was chilly outside. He looked around for other accessories and tightened a brown accessory belt around his waist. Then he tied a black bandanna around his neck, and finally, to top off the look he put on sunglasses and gray fingerless gloves. 

As he gathered supplies, he scoped around the room for any clues, any information about his past self. All he had gathered about Duke Detain was that he was an officer, but that was the extent of his knowledge about that. It was so baffling that such a large time gap lay between the present and Dirty Duke’s last memory. It felt like just yesterday when he’d tried to steal the Doublecross Ruby with Snake, ultimately betraying him in the process. He had to know what had happened in that time gap, to understand how he’d got here.

He spotted something in an open suitcase that looked promising. He picked it up and realized it was Duke’s journal. That was exactly what he needed to fill in the gaps! It was almost as if Duke wanted him to find it. 

Dirty Duke knew he shouldn’t linger in the apartment. Everyone was surely on the lookout for him, and he didn’t want to be found and forced into a life that wasn’t his own. The only place he knew where he could hide was Snake’s warehouse, although he wasn’t looking forward to seeing his old partner again. 

When he reached the hideout it was empty. Nothing but a few empty crates prevented the expansive emptiness from dominating the room. It seemed nobody had lived here in a while, which was odd. Dirty Duke was expecting to find Snake here, but this was certainly preferable. He didn’t want Snake getting in the way.

Dirty Duke set out the items he’d gathered earlier and sat down near a crate. He saw Snake’s stolen motorcycle parked nearby. He would definitely be using that.

Once he was settled in, he opened the journal and started reading. There was a whole lot to get through, but he didn’t know what else to do next, and he needed to know what Duke had been up to.

He wanted to start with what had happened right after his Doublecross Ruby heist. What had happened to make him revert back to Duke? He scanned the pages until he found his answer. Rooky used Cubby to “help Duke remember who he was”. Dirty Duke frowned. Even though he now knew he was the product of amnesia and Snake’s manipulation, he felt his identity was just as valid as Duke’s, yet everyone was treating him like a mistake. He continued with the journal and read how mad and upset Duke was that Snake made him hurt his city. Dirty Duke didn’t have any of those feelings at all. He didn’t regret what he did, and he wasn’t mad at Snake, even though Snake had manipulated him. He was more fascinated with Snake’s methods than angry.

He thought more about his identity. If he wasn’t Duke, and he wasn’t the Dirty Duke that had been brainwashed by Snake, who was he? He knew that, at the very least, he was real. He had his own unique thoughts and ideas, and he was able to make decisions. That seemed to be enough to separate him from his past lives. But that still left him to figure out what kind of a person he was. Maybe if he kept reading about who Duke was, he could let his differences from Duke define who he was now. 

He flipped through more pages and saw that Duke still hadn’t let go of his fear and guilt about what Dirty Duke had done. Duke seemed to hold the law in such high regard, and he was scared that he had been turned into Dirty Duke and had broken the law without a care. 

Dirty Duke simply couldn’t comprehend this. Why did Duke care about the law so much? They were just a bunch of arbitrary rules created by people with too much power. They severely limited people and took away their freedom. Dirty Duke didn’t feel he was a bad person for believing that; in fact, he knew he was better off than everyone else who was too frightened to step outside their box and defy the rules. 

He continued reading, curious to find out more. He read about a few more events, but most of the journal seemed to be dedicated to Duke writing out his feelings. Duke came off as a sad, lonely guy who just wanted to make his city happy. It was weird reading about this side of him that he didn’t connect or relate at all with. Dirty Duke didn’t feel sad, lonely, or guilty.

Then he came to an entry written about a month ago that struck him. Duke suddenly shifted from writing about Daisy as an old friend to someone he strongly hated. Dirty Duke was confused, and he could barely understand what had happened. He read something about a sinking boat and how Daisy had tried to kill him. Duke had spent many long weeks trying to search for her so he could arrest her, but according to the most recent journal entry, he still hadn’t been successful.

Dirty Duke paused as realized the implications. Daisy hadn’t just been trying to kill Duke that day; if she had succeeded, Dirty Duke would’ve been taken out too. This wasn’t just Duke’s problem. This was also  _ his  _ problem.

Dirty Duke felt a semblance of emotion creep into him. If what Duke wrote was true, that meant Daisy basically had been trying to kill Dirty Duke while he’d been sleeping, since he hadn’t been conscious at the time. It didn’t sit right with him at all.

But he had to find out more about what had happened, and maybe Duke’s journal wasn’t the most objective way to discover the truth, especially since its most recent entry was dated a few weeks ago. A lot could’ve happened since then. He decided to risk sneaking out of the warehouse to steal a newspaper. Maybe there’d be something in the news today that could clue him in. Thankfully, he was able to find a newspaper without being seen.

When he was back in the warehouse, he opened up the newspaper. The front headlines immediately caught his attention.

“DAISY KABOOM DECLARED INNOCENT”

Dirty Duke quickly read the article. It explained that Daisy was cleared of her alleged crimes, which had been stealing a pirate’s treasure and blowing up the ship while the pirate and Duke had been on it, leaving them to sink. They had barely escaped alive. Ultimately, the sinking ship had been orchestrated by R. E. Fendrich and his crew of crooks, and they had simply framed the crime on Daisy. It was now confirmed to Dirty Duke what exactly had happened. 

Fendrich and his thieving crooks had almost killed him. All for a bunch of golden door knobs, and they even had the audacity to pin their crimes on someone else so they wouldn’t have to face up to their actions. They’d  _ locked  _ him in a room, fully intending to leave him to drown. Anger boiled in Dirty Duke. He couldn’t let them get away with that. 

He realized he missed the last sentence explaining what had happened to Fendrich and the others. Daisy was starting work with Harl in the junkyard. Fendrich had been arrested and was currently in trial to determine his sentence. But everyone else had been let off with nothing but a warning. That was it.

This was exactly why the law was so pointless. It didn’t ever punish the people who truly deserved it. And when it did, it left everything up to the police, who only locked up people in an extremely anticlimactic and unsatisfying way. 

He knew what he had to do. He had to take this matter into his own hands. And not the way Duke had tried to. Dirty Duke wasn’t satisfied with just throwing them behind bars. They needed to be truly punished. 

He would find Fendrich, Hacksaw, and all the others. And he wouldn’t let them off easy.

The only problem was, Dirty Duke didn’t know the city very well, so he didn’t even know where he could find them. He couldn’t risk searching the city or asking around, since everyone was looking for him, to take him back to the hospital. He only knew the location of one person who could possibly help him. 

An idea formed in his mind. It was still risky, but he didn’t care. If it meant he could take Fendrich and the others down, it would be well worth it.

* * *

  
  


Daisy tapped the counter absently, watching the sky turn orange with the setting sun. It was difficult for her to focus with the news of her innocence and of Duke escaping the hospital. She couldn’t believe that had all happened only one day earlier.

The whole situation was overwhelming. Daisy was glad Duke was at least awake, but she was still quite worried about him. He was probably confused, lost, and lonely somewhere. Plus, she had no idea what condition he was in. The doctors were never able to fully assess his condition while he’d been in a coma. Was he still injured? If so, they needed to get him back to the hospital fast.

Daisy just about jumped nine feet when she heard Harl yell next to her.

“Tippy!” 

Tippy was walking up to the counter with a broken roller skate in his hand. “Hello, Harl and…” He looked at her with confusion. “Daisy?” His confusion cleared, replaced by interest. “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad your name was cleared.” He turned back to Harl. “Anyways, I was rolling around helping people with their doors, when the wheel popped off.” He placed a pair of roller-skates on the counter. “I was hoping you could fix it?”

Harl giggled. “Of course! This is the Helpful Harl Handyman Hut after all!” 

He looked at the roller-skate to assess the damage. “It seemed the bolt came loose and this metal piece broke off.” He then looked at her. “Daisy, could you search for a bolt and scrap metal?”

Daisy nodded and was just about to go searching when Tippy continued talking. 

“So Daisy works with you now?”

Harl nodded. “Yep! She’s my assistant! She helps me help others. I can get quite overwhelmed doing it all myself.”

Daisy was really glad that Harl was willing to give her a job so she could get back on her feet. This was her first official day on the job, and she was so excited to be working. Admittedly, she wasn’t on her A-game today since she was still getting used to her life now that she was innocent. At least she’d be earning some savings. She was looking forward to affording her own food, since she felt so guilty leeching off of Harl for food. Harl always insisted he loved helping her out, but she still felt bad. 

She left the counter and went into the depths of the junkyard to find the bolt and scrap metal. She found where they kept the bolts, and pulled out a few that could fit the size of the roller-skate. She stopped for a moment, wondering which junkyard pile she should search first for scrap metal. 

She went behind a few cars and found one of the piles of metal, where she pulled out some metal pieces. Just as she was just about to take the items back to Harl, she heard a familiar voice behind her. 

“Daisy.”

She turned around, then gasped. 

It was Duke!

“Duke! It’s you!” She had to stop herself from running over and hugging him. She didn’t know his physical or mental state yet, and she didn’t want to spook him or hurt him. She noticed his bandages and the scar above his right eye and internally winced. She couldn’t see the full injury of his eye due to the sunglasses he was wearing, but it didn’t look good. “Where have you been? Why did you escape the hospital?”

Duke looked hesitant. “I’ll tell you later. But first, I really have to talk to you about something. It’s important.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“The crooks. Hacksaw, Betty and the others. Where are they now?”

“Uh why do you want to know?”

“I need to talk to them.”

“Duke, you escaped the hospital yesterday. You’ve been in a coma for weeks, and this is your priority right now? I-I’m not sure you’re in your right mind.”

“Of course I am Daisy.”

“Then explain to me why you decided to escape the hospital.”

“There was...an emergency. I wish I could tell you more, but now’s not the right time. Just tell me where they are. I need to tell them something very important.”

Duke was being uncharacteristically demanding. Either the situation was urgent, or Duke was really confused and out-of-it. Daisy looked at him more closely, and noticed for the first time what he was wearing. It didn't seem quite like an outfit Duke would wear, especially with the ripped sleeves. Everything about him just felt off. “Listen, you just woke up from your coma. Why don’t you tell me your message, and I’ll deliver it to them myself, as soon as possible. You should probably be back at the hospital, recovering.”

Duke growled, startling Daisy. “That’s not going to work. It has to be me!”

His demeanor and glare startled Daisy, and she took a step back. She’d never been scared of Duke before, even when he was in pursuit of her after a crime. But now there was a cold anger in his expression that completely unnerved her. “Look, if you just explain to me what’s going on, then I’ll help you, ok?”

“I don’t need your help. I just need to know where to find them.”

Duke would never dismiss her like this, after going out of his way to find her. There was definitely something wrong. “I really don’t think you’re in your right mind. You’re not acting like yourself.”

Duke sighed. “I guess you caught me. It was only a matter of time. You seem to know Duke very well.”

Daisy didn’t like that he was referring to himself in the third person. “What do you mean?”

“Truth is, I’m not Duke. I’m...Dirty Duke.”

Cold dread shuddered down Daisy’s spine. “...No.”

“I know, you’re not happy to see me. But that doesn’t matter. You’re still going to tell me where they are.”

Now that she knew she was talking to Dirty Duke, his words chilled her. “What are you going to do with them?”

“Just give me the answer.”

“I can’t.”

“Why are you protecting them? They hurt you just as much as they hurt me.”

“What, you mean the boat? Duke, they had nothing to do with sinking the boat itself. And they even cleared my name to fix everything they’d done.”

Dirty Duke clenched a fist at his side. “They were willing to work for that terrible businessman in the first place. That’s condemning enough. And you really think that by clearing your name, that excused everything they’ve done to us? They need to suffer for what they did. Don’t you want to give them the punishment they deserve, after they framed you and forced you to become a fugitive for weeks?”

“Of course not! Besides, the true criminal, Fendrich, is behind bars now, getting what he deserves.”

“You really are content with all this aren’t you. I wasn’t expecting you to be this soft.”

“Duke this isn’t you. The Duke I know would never want to hurt others. Even when he thought I had tried to kill him, he just wanted to send me to prison. Nothing more.”

“Too bad I’m not Duke. Tell me where they are. Now.”

Daisy knew Dirty Duke would have no reservations about hurting her if she got in his way. Snake had told her that he was ruthless, unforgiving, and had no code; he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. She had to get away. Thinking fast, she sprinted away from him, ramming into a tall pile of scrap metal and sending it crashing down behind her. 

She looked behind her, but didn’t stop running. Thankfully the scrap metal seemed to have blocked Dirty Duke from following her.

She had to find Harl. Her heart was practically leaping out of her chest, partially from her running and partially out of fear. Dirty Duke was back. She had to warn everyone.

The fear subsided a bit once she realized Dirty Duke wasn’t following her, but it was only replaced with sadness. Just when she thought she had her friend back, he was still gone. 

She raced back to the stand, and almost ran into Harl. 

“There you are Daisy! I heard a huge crash and wondered what was going—.”

Daisy didn’t let him finish. “We need to find the crooks!”

Harl stared at her with concern. “Why?”

She had to take a second to catch her breath. “I just saw Duke… except he wasn’t himself. He’s Dirty Duke again, and he told me he wants to hurt Hacksaw and the others!” 

Harl’s eye’s stretched wide open. “That’s terrible!”

“Yeah, but I have an idea. If we find them and bring them here, we can hide them in the tunnels. Dirty Duke will never find them there. I’m going to get them right now.”

Harl nodded. “You do that. In the meantime, I’m going to call the police station.”

“Good idea. Just...don’t tell them we have the crooks. I’m afraid if they know, the word will get out sooner to Dirty Duke as to where they are. Also, make sure Dirty Duke is gone from the junkyard.”

“Alright.” Harl said.

Daisy rushed off through the junkyard and passed by a confused looking Tippy at the stand. She had no time to waste. 

She only hoped that by the time she found them, it wouldn’t be too late.

* * *

Daisy ran up to the hideout. Night had fallen over the city, and while it would offer the crooks an easier time making it to the junkyard unnoticed, it could also make it easier for Dirty Duke to ambush them unexpectedly. 

She knocked on the door frantically. She realized it was very possible the crooks were not here; now that Fendrich was in jail, they may not be using this place anymore. But she had no idea where they actually lived, so it was best to start here.

Surprisingly, she heard motion from inside. The door cracked open, and once again, it was Hacksaw.

He opened the door wider, but looked worried. “Daisy?”

“Hacksaw, I’ll make this quick. Are the others here?”

Hacksaw looked behind him. “Yeah. Game night. Is that why you’re here? Or...do you want to talk about what happened?”

Daisy shook her head impatiently. “No. I’m here because you guys are in danger. I’m taking you someplace safe.”

Hacksaw fumbled for words for a moment. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain once we get to the junkyard. Are you guys ok getting there by foot? I don’t think your monster truck will be very inconspicuous, and I can fit only one other person on my motorcycle.”

“I think so, but seriously Daisy. What’s going on?”

Daisy let out a tense breath. “Dirty Duke is back. And he’s after you guys.”

Hacksaw gaped. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Just leave as soon as possible, and meet me at the junkyard. Please be careful. Stay in the shadows as much as possible.”

Hacksaw looked back behind him with a look of worry on his face. He turned back to Daisy and replaced his expression with one of determination. “Don’t worry. We’re crooks. Sneaking is what we do best.”

* * *

Daisy sat on a crate in the darkened junkyard, her hands clasped together tightly. The crooks weren’t here yet. Had Dirty Duke already found them?

Relief flooded through her when she saw a group of people approaching her and Harl. They stepped into the light of the lantern, and Daisy saw the illuminated faces of Hacksaw, Betty, Frankie, Clara and Vito. 

“Glad to see you all made it.” Daisy said. 

Betty looked around. “Are you sure we’ll be safe here?” 

Harl chimed in. “Oh yes! Cluster has a whole bunch of tunnels under this junkyard that Dirty Duke won’t know about. In fact, let’s take you there now.”

Vito grumbled as Harl led them over to a stack of tires. 

Harl looked behind him. “Are you alright Vito?”

Hacksaw cut in. “I just think he doesn’t like the junkyard ever since he got launched into the sky the last time we were here.” He cringed. “By the way, we are so sorry about all that.”

“You mean, with the treasure?” Harl said. “That’s alright!”

“Are you sure? Cluster seemed pretty mad about that.”

“Well yeah, he wasn’t happy about it at first, but now Cluster told me he’s willing to forgive you. He’s still kind of suspicious about you guys, but he knows you turned on Fendrich. He’s willing to give you guys another chance.”

Harl climbed up the tires and dropped down them. His voice echoed back up to them. “Don’t worry, it’s not as far down as it looks!”

After everyone had followed Harl into the cool, dark tunnels, he led them to an area he’d already set up. Sleeping bags, lanterns, flashlights, heating generators, and even some food was already prepared for them. Daisy was surprised at how quickly Harl worked.

Hacksaw’s face brightened. “This is amazing Harl. Thank you so much!”

“Man Harl, you are just the best.” Betty added.

Harl smiled. “Just glad I could help.”

Frankie ran over to the bowl of candy. “Gourmet jelly beans?! No way!” He stuffed a few in his mouth.

Clara nudged Vito. “You know what this means. Extended sleepover. You must be  _ so _ excited right now.”

Vito glared at her, but he seemed to have lightened up a bit. “Better than Dirty Duke, I say.”

“So not to dampen the mood,” Frankie said, turning away from the jelly beans and looking up at Daisy, “but what exactly is going on with Dirty Duke? What does he want with us?”

Daisy folded her arms. “I think...he’s mad about the whole boat situation, and how he almost drowned.”

Frankie looked confused. “But that all happened to Duke, not Dirty Duke.”

Clara rolled her eyes. “They share the same body. If one dies, the other dies too.”

“And most importantly,” Betty cut in, “that was Fendrich who sank the boat! Not us!”

“Well, he definitely was also mad about Fendrich.” Daisy said. “But he didn’t listen to reason when I tried to talk to him about you guys. Either way, there was no way I was going to let him hurt any one of you, especially after you cleared my name.” 

Daisy looked at each of them. “I realize I haven’t properly thanked you, and that’s long overdue. Seriously, thank you for that. If it wasn’t for you, I could’ve been serving a life sentence in prison right now. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to each of you.”

Hacksaw nodded. “It was the least we could do after...everything.”

Surprisingly, Vito spoke up. “Yeah. We’re just glad you’re safe now.”

“Well then I’m going to return the favor. I will do everything I can to stop Dirty Duke. And I will make sure you’re all safe until that day comes.”

* * *

Daisy rode on her motorcycle with Harl in the back. It was the next day, and they were on their way to the police station. Chief Wheelie had wanted to speak with them in person, to hear more about what happened with Dirty Duke. 

It was strange to drive up to the station. Not too long ago, this would be the very worst place for her to be at. They went through the doors, and saw Allen sitting at the desk. 

Allen gulped. “Uhhh, are you guys here for the chief?”

Harl nodded. “Yes, he wants to talk to us about Duke.”

Allen gulped. He called Wheelie into the room. 

“Yo, what’s up dudes?” Wheelie looked at Daisy with wide eyes. “Oh and Daisy. I-I’m sorry about everything that happened. It was way not cool of us to put you on the run like that.”

Daisy shrugged. “It’s alright. Anyways, you wanted to talk to us about Dirty Duke, right?”

“Yup. Just follow me.” 

He took them to a separate room. He sat at a table and Daisy and Harl took their seats in front of him.

“So, exactly what happened at the junkyard with Dirty Duke?”

Daisy explained the whole story to Wheelie, trying not to leave anything important out.

“So he’s after the crooks?” Wheelie frowned. “We gotta find them before Dirty Duke does. Do either of you know where they are?”

Daisy shot a glance at Harl, telling him to leave the talking up to her. She looked back at the chief. “No. Sorry.”

“Okay, what about Dirty Duke? Any idea where he went?”

Harl and Daisy shook their heads. 

Wheelie looked really stressed, and placed his fingers on his forehead. “This is bad. We’ve gotta warn the city. Dirty Duke is totally dangerous. And hopefully the message will get out to Hacksaw and the others that way.” Wheelie looked like he was fighting a lot of emotions inside him. “I just wanted Duke back…”

“I do too.” Daisy said. “But we will get him back. You guys got him back with Cubby last time, right? That should work again” Daisy said, hoping her optimism wasn’t misplaced.

“Yeah! Rooky was able to make him remember last time, so I don’t see why it won’t work this time. Now all we need to do is figure out where he is.” 

Suddenly, a small speaker attached to Wheelie's belt sounded. Allen’s voice came through.

“Chief, there’s someone else who wants to speak to you.”

He skateboarded out, and Daisy and Harl followed. They saw Dr. Ravenhurst with a distressed look on her face.

“What’s up?” Wheelie said.

She looked like she was trying to catch her breath. “I noticed that Dr. Wexler wasn’t in the lab today. I thought maybe he was sick, but it’s so unlike Wexler to miss work for any reason. I got a bit worried, so I went to go and check on him, and saw his house was trashed, and his windows were broken! Something bad happened to him!”

Daisy looked at Wheelie. “Do you think that could be linked with Dirty Duke?”

Wheelie put his finger to his chin. “It’s possible, although we can’t know for sure until we find out more. We’ll send detectives there and see what’s going on.”

Wheelie waved to get Tom Bennett’s attention. 

“Bro, you work on sending some detectives to Dr. Wexler’s place. I’m going to set up a meeting with Gabby Tocamera to get this on the news.” Tom nodded and called a meeting for the officers. 

Nothing about this situation seemed good. If Dirty Duke had something to do with Dr Wexler’s disappearance, what were his motives? He’d seemed so focused on getting revenge on Fendrich and the crooks, so why would he bring Wexler into this? Worry tightened Daisy’s lungs. Either way, Wexler was in danger, and they had to find him. Maybe if they found him, they’d find Dirty Duke also.

And if they found Dirty Duke, there was a chance they could finally get Duke back.


	11. Machine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight blood warning!

“What do you even want to do with a machine like this?” Dr Wexler asked in an annoyed tone. He worked at a desk with his legs tied to the chair. Dirty Duke had kidnapped him yesterday as part of his new plan. He’d needed to threaten a few people to get the doctor’s address, but now that everyone knew Dirty Duke was back, there was no more need for discreteness. He’d also stopped by the junkyard again to collect scrap metal, and this time, he’d been careful not to be spotted. Finally, he’d kidnapped the scientist. Dr. Wexler’s expertise was essential to Dirty Duke’s new plans, but the only problem was, Dr. Wexler wasn’t being so cooperative.

“You don’t need to know anything. I just need to know you’ll be able to build it.” Dirty Duke said sternly.

Wexler rolled his eyes. “Well maybe if you tell me what you plan on doing, instead of being extraordinarily vague, I can actually tell you if that’s possible.”

Dirty Duke shook his head. “Nice try. Just build it for me, and you won’t get hurt.”

Fear flashed in Dr Wexler’s eyes, but the scientist scowled, trying to hide it. “Okay fine. But lack of communication doesn’t exactly promote scientific progress, so I don’t know how well this will go.”

“Look,” Dirty Duke tapped on the blueprints. “You see this? All you’ll need to do is follow it. That’s it.” Dirty Duke could feel his patience growing thin. “Now, tell me if it can be built.”

Wexler narrowed his eyes as he looked over the blueprint. “So I see you wish to build a device that will create energy waves. That shouldn’t be too hard to make. Only problem is, I’m going to need some actual tools, not just this scrap metal, in order to be able to build it. I sure hope you know how you’re going to get those tools, otherwise this plan of yours is going to fail miserably.”

“Have some more faith in me, Wexler. I’ll be leaving in just a moment to find those tools. Just tell me which specific tools you need, and I’ll get them. While I’m gone, look over those plans again. I don’t want you wasting any more time. If I come back and find you slacked off while I was gone, the consequences won’t be pretty. Understand?”

“Yes I understand. You make your threats very painfully clear.”

* * *

Daisy was once again at the station. She wanted to keep on top of any news about Dirty Duke and help with the investigation in any way she could. Harl and Cluster stayed behind in the junkyard to take care of things and keep the crooks safe. 

There was no real news of Dirty Duke’s whereabouts so far, but Daisy had heard about the detective’s investigation of Wexler’s place. They found clear evidence of a struggle and a kidnapping, but no evidence that Dirty Duke had been involved. Of course, lack of evidence didn’t dismiss the huge coincidence that the timing of the kidnapping coincided so well with Dirty Duke’s escape. 

A few weeks earlier, if anyone would have told her she’d be working closely with the police on a case, she would’ve thought they were out of their mind. Daisy felt uncomfortable and out-of-place as she aided Tom and Wheelie, but she wanted to help them find Dirty Duke as soon as possible. At first, they had been reluctant for her help, but they eventually gave in. She didn’t want to miss out on any decision the head officers made. Although their primary reasoning for finding Dirty Duke was to prevent him from wreaking havoc, they clung on to the expectations that they’d also be able to bring Duke back.

She was talking with Wheelie and Tom when a dispatch call came over their speakers. 

“AAAHH! DIRTY DUKE’S BEEN SPOTTED AT THE JUNKYARD!”

Daisy gasped. That’s where the crooks were hiding! Had Dirty Duke found them? If so they were in big trouble.

“There’s no time to waste!” Wheelie said. “Let’s go!”

He was out the door in a flash. Tom Bennett stood up, about to follow him. 

“Wait!” Daisy said. “Let me go with you!”

Tom Bennett sighed. “Fine.”

They hurried out of the room and went to Tom Bennett’s car. Daisy threw herself into the passenger seat and barely even had time to buckle her seatbelt before the captain accelerated onto the road. 

The whole drive, Daisy was incredibly tense. Were they going to be too late? If Dirty Duke was there for the criminals, Harl would certainly try and protect them. That put him in immediate danger alongside the crooks. Her worried thoughts kept looping on repeat throughout the whole drive.

They finally reached the junkyard. Tom Bennett pulled over the car and sprinted up to the entrance. Daisy followed him, and they spotted Harl not too far away. He looked frantic, but unharmed.

“You just missed him!” Harl yelled. “He took off on his motorcycle that way!” He pointed to a road.

Tom grabbed his walkie talkie. “All units. Head down Bart Avenue. Don’t let Dirty Duke get away.” 

A whole bunch of police cars zoomed past at full speed. Tom and Daisy were still trying to catch their breaths before they asked Harl questions.

“What happened?” Tom asked. 

Harl stuttered for a bit. “Uh well I was just looking for supplies when I saw Dirty Duke in the junkyard! He didn’t notice me, and it looked like he was stealing some of my spare tools. I tried calling you as soon as possible, but it seems like we were too late.”

“The other officers are giving chase to him right now.” Tom said. “There’s still a chance we can catch up to him.”

“Did anything else happen?” Daisy gave Harl a significant look.

Harl shook his head. “No. No one got hurt.”

Daisy’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank goodness.”

Tom looked puzzled. “So Dirty Duke stole some of your tools, huh. What do you think he wants them for?” He looked at Daisy. “Have any ideas?”

Daisy thought about it for a moment, but she couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation for this. “Not really. Maybe he’s hoping to build something?” 

“I don’t like the sound of that.” He turned back to Harl. “Thank you for alerting us.”

“Of course,” Harl replied. 

Tom nodded back, then he and Daisy got back in the car. “Let’s go back to the station. Hopefully they caught Dirty Duke.”

* * *

“What do you mean you didn’t catch him?!”

Rooky looked distressed as Tom yelled at her. “He’s crazy fast and he can literally drive up walls in his motorcycle. We could barely keep up! Then he escaped through the sewers and at that point we completely lost him. He’s practically unstoppable!”

Daisy felt dejection and frustration; they’d been so close to catching him! But now they were back at square one. 

She just wanted her friend back. Daisy wasn’t sure if she’d ever wanted something as badly as this, not even having her name cleared. She missed Duke’s smile and laughter so much, and she missed the friendship they had been redeveloping. She wanted him to be able to go back to the life he wanted, instead of having his mind taken over by some horrible criminal.

A terrible thought came into her mind. What if they were never able to catch him and he was stuck as Dirty Duke forever? Or what if Cubby didn’t work this time, for some reason? She shook her head of the unwanted thought. She had to believe that everything would work out eventually. 

* * *

A few days had passed with no luck. Chief Wheeler and Captain Bennett had pulled out a map of the city to review the places they had searched, and discuss the areas they would focus their search on next. Daisy watched as they circled a few potential areas where Dirty Duke could be hiding.

“What about here?” Tom pointed to a sector of the city. “It’s got some abandoned buildings where he could be staking out.” 

Wheelie nodded. “Why don’t you circle it?”

Tom drew a circle on the paper with a red marker. 

_ Abandoned buildings.  _ Daisy scanned the paper until she found the area where Snake’s hideout was. She realized with surprise it hadn’t been investigated yet. That should be added to the search next. It would make sense as a place for Dirty Duke to hide. She was about to speak up about that when she heard commotion in the main lobby just down the hall. 

Wheelie looked up. “Wonder what’s going on.”

“Doesn’t sound too good.” Tom said. “Let’s go.”

He and Wheelie left the room in a hurry and Daisy followed them into the lobby.

They passed Allen huddling behind the front desk. Daisy’s heart froze when she recognized who was standing in front of the desk.

“Snake?”

He looked up at them. “There you guys are.”

Daisy noticed his worried expression. “What happened?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard on my radio that Dirty Duke was back, so I came back to the city to see what’s happening. Next thing I know, I saw Dirty Duke enter my lair. I looked through the window and saw this scientist tied up in my lair.”

Daisy breathed in sharply. Her hunch had been correct! 

Wheelie tilted his head. “Dr Wexler?”

“Maybe,” Snake said. “I don’t know.”

“Did Dirty Duke notice you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That means there’s a chance he’s still there!” Tom Bennett exclaimed.

“Lead us to where he is.” Wheelie said to Snake. He looked behind him at Rooky. “You’ve got Cubby, right?”

She held up the stuffed animal. Wheelie gave her a thumbs-up, then the officers took off. 

Snake glanced over at Daisy with a hard-to-read expression. “I have a lot I want to say to you.”

“Save it. We need to get to Dirty Duke first.”

Snake nodded and he and Daisy left the station. Outside, Daisy and Snake swung themselves on their motorcycles while the officers climbed into their cars, sirens-off, to be able to take Dirty Duke by surprise. 

Snake took the lead, and everyone followed him through the streets to the empty warehouse. Daisy had many mixed feelings about this place. It was where Snake and Daisy spent moments building their friendship, it was where their friendship broke apart, and it was the place Daisy hid from the law before she went to the junkyard. Now anticipation hung in the air around the building. Was this going to be the place where they finally caught Dirty Duke? 

The officers parked their vehicles down the street and approached the building as silently as possible, gathering near the doors. At Chief Wheelie’s signal, the officers barged in through the saloon-style doors. Daisy followed after the swarm. 

A few officers had already reached Dirty Duke, struggling to pin him to the ground. Dr. Wexler sat nearby, tied up to a chair, watching the chaos with wide eyes. 

Once Dirty Duke seemed to be incapacitated, Rooky came up to him, holding out Cubby, exactly how she did when he’d stolen the Doublecross Ruby. 

She brought it down to Dirty Duke’s eye level and pressed on the stuffed animal to activate its voice box. “The easiest way is rarely the best way!”

Rooky looked at him urgently. “Duke, do you remember who you are?”

Dirty Duke stayed still for a moment, silent, with the officers still keeping him in firmly in place. Sometime in the struggle, his sunglasses had fallen off, revealing a large scar that ran across his right glassy-looking eye. He stared at Cubby for a few seconds. Daisy held her breath. Was he finally remembering? 

Dirty Duke scoffed. “Do you really think that doll is going to work on me again?”

Rooky opened her mouth in disbelief. “It has to! Duke, please remember who you are!” she said, her tone rising with desperation.

“I know exactly who I am and I know exactly what my purpose is! I refuse to give myself over to Duke.That man has no conviction, and he doesn’t have the strength to do what has to be done. You’re not getting him back. ”

Daisy couldn’t believe what was happening. She stepped forward and grabbed the Cubby doll from Rooky’s hand. She held the doll in front of his face. A lump formed in her throat.

“Look Duke. It’s your hero, Cubby the Cop! Don’t you remember all the adventures you’ve had with him?”

Dirty Duke didn’t change his expression, he only gave her a steady glare. Daisy clutched the stuffed animal tighter.

“I just need Duke back! Please!” 

It was no use. Snake put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. She dropped the doll, dazed. It was supposed to work. But somehow, it hadn’t. 

Everyone looked completely defeated except Dirty Duke. He smiled in triumph, even though he was still pressed against the concrete floor. 

Wheelie looked devastated, but still managed to speak.

“Let’s put handcuffs on him.”

Daisy looked up at Wheelie. “What? This is still Duke! We can’t just lock him up!”

Wheelie shook his head. “He’s way too dangerous to be roaming around. Duke would’ve wanted it this way.”

Daisy tilted her head down and stared at the ground. What he said made sense, but she still couldn’t bear to see them arrest Dirty Duke. That would only solidify the fact that her friend was gone. She didn’t look up again until they had taken him to one of the cop cars outside. 

“Umm, hello? I’m still tied up here!” Dr. Wexler exclaimed.

Wheelie winced. “My bad, bro.” He went over to Wexler and untied the ropes. “Did Dirty Duke hurt you?”

“Not exactly, but he threatened me many times. The only thing I really did was help him make what seemed to be some sort of energy wave device.”

“Where is the device?”

“I’m not sure. Dirty Duke hid it somewhere, after I had basically finished it.”

Wheelie looked at the officers that remained. “Search the area. I don’t like the sounds of having that device laying around somewhere.” He looked back at Wexler. “Now, let’s get you back to the station.”

* * *

They took Dirty Duke directly to a cell. Daisy wasn’t happy with Dirty Duke’s imprisonment at all. While she knew logically it was the best option, seeing Duke behind bars felt so wrong, even if he wasn’t himself. Duke just didn’t deserve to be locked up like this. 

Wheelie typed a code to his cell to lock it. As he turned to leave Duke in his cell, Daisy spoke up.

“Could I still stay here with him?” It was truly painful to see him locked up, but she didn’t want to leave his presence.

Wheelie shrugged. “I guess so. As long as you are on this side of the door.”

He skated off and left Daisy alone with Dirty Duke. The only thing that separated them was the prison door. 

Daisy turned her attention to Duke, or, Dirty Duke. “What are you? A glitch? A parasite? A demon? Whatever you are, just leave Duke’s body.”

Dirty Duke shook his head and chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not going to happen.”

“You aren’t real! Your brain was damaged, the persona you have now is just an illusion. It would be better for everyone if we could have Duke back.”

“Would it really be better? Duke is vulnerable. Just in the span of a month, he almost drowned and got in a car crash. With me taking over, I won’t get hurt that easily.”

“And what makes you think you’re so invulnerable?”

“Because unlike Duke, I’m not a pushover. No one will dare to think they can mess with me, after I’m through with Fendrich and the others.”

Daisy swallowed, unnerved by Dirty Duke’s confidence. “You sound so certain you’ll be able to get your revenge on them, but you are locked up. It’s never going to happen.”

Dirty Duke let out a chilling laugh. “You’re right. Why am I so enthusiastic? I can’t escape, can’t I?” 

Dirty Duke’s words set off warning signals in her mind. “You’re almost acting like you  _ want  _ to be here. Like you wanted to get arrested.”

“Finally figured it out, have you?” He folded his arms and smirked.

“What are you planning?” Daisy asked.

He leaned against his jail cell wall, but didn’t say anything. Daisy noticed his bandaging on his arm came undone, and a stream of blood dripped down his arm.

“Duke! You’re bleeding!” Seeing that huge scar running down his arm stung her heart. Duke must’ve felt that before losing his consciousness. How much pain had he gone through?

Dirty Duke looked down at his arm with an unconcerned expression, as if he hadn’t even noticed the bandage had come undone until now. “Would you look at that? I suppose it is bleeding again.”

“Your wound must’ve reopened when the officers tackled you. Here, let me get you some new bandaging.” As she turned she almost collided with Snake. 

“Daisy, I need to tell you something,” Snake said, with a concerned expression on his face.

Daisy walked around him, annoyed. He kept needing to talk to her at the worst times. “Sorry Snake, it needs to wait for a moment. Duke is bleeding.” 

She looked around for a first aid kit and found one. She pulled out the bandaging wrap, then made her way back to Dirty Duke. There was a small door on the cell that allowed her to slip in the bandaging. He accepted it nonchalantly and started to rewrap his scar. It wasn’t bleeding a lot, but Daisy knew it was important to still wrap it to staunch the blood flow.

“Do you remember the crash at all?” Daisy asked.

He shook his head. “I know what happened, but I’m spared from remembering the pain. I wouldn’t have known if I had suffered. That’s what’s good about forgetting.”

“And yet why can’t you let go of your anger towards the crooks and Fendrich? You don’t even have your memory of that event anymore.”

“I don’t need to remember to understand what a horrible thing they did to me. Besides, their punishment hasn’t been completed yet. Somewhere in this jail, Fendrich is sitting, probably bored out of his mind. Boredom is hardly a fitting consequence for all the destruction he has done. But that won’t last for long. Soon he will know what true agony feels like. And that pain may be enough to convince him to help me find the crooks.”

Hearing this through Duke’s voice was truly disturbing. Not even Fendrich deserved to have such a horrible thing happen to him.

Snake came up to the cell, and was silent for a moment. It looked like a lot was on his mind. Eventually, he met his gaze with Dirty Duke.

“So why am I hearing all this talk of punishment and torture? I definitely didn’t put those ideas in your mind.”

“You may have manipulated me into doing a bunch of crimes for you, but you didn’t create me. I’m above that life now.”

Snake grabbed Daisy’s shoulder and they turned their backs to the jail cell. 

“So what happened with Dirty Duke?” Snake muttered. “Why’s he all revenge-crazy now?”

Daisy whispered to Snake to match his tone. “I’m not sure. It’s really hard to listen to.”

She turned her head to look at Dirty Duke. He looked oddly content; he certainly had to be plotting something. She didn’t like this. Maybe she should warn someone to keep a close eye on Dirty Duke. Or maybe she should stay here and ask him more questions.

Before she could make up her mind on what to do, Dirty Duke spoke up again.

“What’s the time?”

Daisy looked at her phone cautiously. “Uh...8:29?”

Dirty Duke smiled. “Perfect. The energy wave machine should be going off any minute now.”

Dirty Duke’s vagueness both infuriated her and unsettled her. “What do you mean? What’s it going to do?”

“See for yourself.”

Suddenly the lights flickered around them, flashing briefly before they completely shut off, leaving everyone in pitch blackness. She couldn’t even see Snake standing right next to her. Next she heard the sound of a door opening in front of her. Chills shot down her spine when she realized the locks to the cell doors were electronic.

“Dirty Duke is escaping!” Daisy yelled.

She tried to feel through the darkness, but only felt the hallway walls, and the open cell door. She bumped into someone and jumped back. “Who’s that?”

“It’s just Snake.” came the reply. “Why aren’t you using your phone for light?”

“Oh right.” Daisy had forgotten about that in the chaos. She pulled out her phone and was working on getting the flashlight feature to work, when she heard a distinctive yell down the hall.

“LET GO OF ME!” 

It was Fendrich! It sounded like he was very far away, and Daisy couldn’t hear what was going on, but she could guess. She tried to turn on her flashlight, but something collided with her, and she dropped her phone.

She desperately tried feeling for her phone, but no luck. “Snake, I can’t find my phone! What do we do?”

“I don’t think we can do anything. Let’s just stay here and hope someone else stops him.”

Daisy strained to hear Fendrich, but it was ominously quiet now, beyond some sounds of footsteps and shouts of confusion.

After what felt like an eternity in the dark, Wheelie skateboarded down the hallway with a flashlight in hand. 

“Did you catch Dirty Duke?” Daisy demanded.

“We’re trying, but we don’t know where he’s gone. It’s possible he’s already escaped the prison grounds. We’ll keep looking.” 

Before, Daisy didn’t want to put Dirty Duke behind bars, but now that he’d escaped she’d give anything to put him back in his cell. If his plans really went as he said, Fendrich and the crooks were in immediate danger. And she knew that anyone who interfered with Dirty Duke would be in danger too.


	12. Blackout

An enormous line stretched in front of the table Daisy was sitting at. The table had been set out in front of the station. She was in charge of passing out emergency supplies like food, water, flashlights, and blankets to help people get through the power outage. 

The power had gone out four days ago, and the whole town had been in a state of crisis ever since. There was only one place with power due to Cluster’s generator, and that was the hospital. Nobody really could use their cars anymore since fuel was so limited, no houses had heat or working electric stoves to quickly heat up their food, and of course, no one’s lights would turn on. The citizens stuck to doing things in the day time, like now, because once night hit, it became way too oppressively dark to do anything, and they needed to conserve their flashlight energy. Harl took this as an opportunity to put his helping expertise to good use, and Daisy helped out at his side. 

Much more pressing was the fact that Dirty Duke was at large. Since he escaped his jail cell in the madness of the blackout, there had been no sight of him or Fendrich. His “energy wave machine” was confirmed to be the cause behind the power outage. Many power workers had worked tirelessly to try and restore the power, but nothing worked. In order to get the power back, they’d have to find the machine and disable it, or else it would continue disrupting the power across town, but no one could locate it or Dirty Duke. 

Dirty Duke no longer camped out at Snake's lair, and no searches had yielded any clues to where he could be. The tension was almost killing Daisy. Dirty Duke’s silence was ominous. What horrible things could he be doing to Fendrich? Was he still searching for the crooks? Or had he moved on to other, equally heinous goals? 

Daisy’s thoughts of doom and gloom were interrupted as she noticed the next person in line. It was Captain Facepatch.

“Good to see you Daisy. I know it’s old news by now, but I’m delighted to know you have been cleared of your allegations and that you are doing well now.”

“Thank you Facepatch. Although ‘doing well’ is a bit of a stretch, with everything that’s been going on.” 

“I also wish the circumstances could be better. It’s a little alarming that somehow, this power outage is also cutting power within my ships, and I miss being able to sail on my boats. And of course, there’s the dreadful news of everything that’s happened to Duke. It truly aches me to know that Dirty Duke has returned. But that’s why I appreciate your help in all this. Everyone needs a little hope during this difficult time. I know my crew could certainly use the supplies.”

Daisy grabbed a box of supplies from under the table. “Well then, I hope this contains everything you guys will need.”

Facepatch took the box. “I’m sure this will suffice. Thank you for your help.”

After Facepatch had walked off, Daisy was about to help the next person in line when she heard some commotion behind her. A few officers were running up to the station and entering the building. This wouldn’t have been unusual, if it wasn’t for the tenseness in their faces. 

One of the officers was Tom Bennett. He met Daisy’s gaze and he gestured for her to follow him before he opened the doors and stepped inside. 

Daisy glanced over at Harl who was also at the counter helping with passing out supplies. 

“Harl, could you cover for me for a minute?”

“Sure thing!”

She nodded to show her appreciation, then went off to follow Tom Bennett inside. He led her to the main meeting room, where many officers already sat, including Wheelie. Many of them were shifting in their seats with nervous expressions. 

Something had definitely happened. And judging by the mood of the room, it wasn’t good.

Tom Bennett stood at the front stand, waiting for everyone to arrive. Daisy herself wasn’t sure where to sit, or even if she was supposed to sit, so she instead hung out by the entryway. Finally, once everyone had arrived, Tom started the meeting.

“Thank you all for being so quick to respond to this sudden emergency meeting. To explain what’s going on, we very recently received a note from Dirty Duke himself.” A few people gasped before Tom continued. “I will read it aloud to you.”

“‘ _ Officers, I am running out of patience. I have tried many different things in order to bring justice down on Fendrich and the crooks, but nothing is working out for me. The crook’s location eludes me, and Fendrich managed to escape my grasp before I could do anything to him. I simply cannot find them on my own. And I will not wait for much longer.  _

_ I will give you and your city two days to find them. Then, on the second day, I will come out of the shadows and expect to find Fendrich, Hacksaw, Betty, Clara, Vito and Frankie delivered up to me. If that doesn’t happen, if even one of them is missing, I will have no choice but to move on to my final option. I will detonate your entire city. In doing this, I’ll either be eliminating those criminals myself, or flushing them out of their hiding places. I assume this is a worthy threat that will be effective at convincing your city to at least try to find them for me. Because if you don’t, I can’t guarantee your safety.” _

Tom Bennett put down the note with a grave expression and the officers in the audience gave each other with dismayed looks. Daisy realized her worst fears had come true; Dirty Duke had now put the entire city in jeopardy. 

Tom broke the tense silence. “So that’s our situation. If it was during any other time, me and the Chief would be ordering an immediate evacuation of the entire city. But without access to most transportation, I don’t think that will be possible. And I can’t think of a single place where we can fit the entire city and protect the citizens from this threat. So I think we should put our focus on other important things.’

“First, I want everyone to work overtime trying to find Dirty Duke. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we find him. Look everywhere, even in the least likely places. We will be enlisting the help of everyone we can outside of the police force, but your work cannot be substituted. Second, while you’re out looking for him, inspect everywhere for any detonation devices. We can’t be sure what Dirty Duke meant when he said he would detonate the entire city, but it’s very possible he has been planting hidden bombs across the city. If you find any at all, report to me immediately.” He looked at Daisy. “That is where you will come in, Daisy. We will be needing your help to safely diffuse any bombs we come across, and maybe using your help to know how to prevent any explosions that may come up.”

Daisy nodded. “I can definitely take care of that.” 

Tom nodded. He paused, and his gaze dropped to the note on his stand. “Our third task is possibly the most difficult one. Not because it will be more challenging than our other tasks to successfully complete, but because it requires me to make a tough decision. But I also need us to be looking out for Fendrich, Hacksaw, Vito and the others. If we run out of options, and have to choose between their safety and the city’s safety...well, you get the picture.”

Daisy felt sick to her stomach. She had promised to keep Betty, Clara, Vito, Frankie and Hacksaw safe, but now that would mean deliberately turning against the city. She had no clue what she was going to do about that. She could only hope that they’d capture Dirty Duke within two days, or even disable the bombs by then. 

“But hopefully it won’t come to that,” Tom said. “And rest assured that we are working on developing...other options that could resolve the crisis. But until those options can be finalized, I will be counting on each and every one of you to do their part. Now, if you have any further questions, make them quick. Because we’ve got a lot to do.”

* * *

The first thing Daisy did after she was dismissed from the meeting was head straight to the junkyard. She needed to talk to the crooks about what was happening. If anyone deserved to know about the city’s current dilemma, it was them. 

She found them in the tunnels, at their usual place. Hacksaw stood up, and must have noticed the distress in her expression, because he looked instantly apprehensive. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Dirty Duke. He’s sent out a final threat. He demanded the city hand over you guys and Fendrich to him, or else he would blow up the city. Now the entire city will be looking for you guys.”

Horror crossed their faces. Daisy quickly tried to reassure them. “But don’t worry! I’ll do everything I can to shelter you guys. We’ll figure out a different way to stop Dirty Duke, I know it.”

The crooks looked at each other. It seemed there was a silent agreement passed between them, before Hacksaw took a step forward. 

“We appreciate your help Daisy. You have done so much for us. But...when it comes down to it, we know what must be done. We can’t allow Dirty Duke to harm the city. If he wants us...we are willing to hand ourselves over to him.” Behind him, the others nodded slowly. 

Daisy’s throat tightened. It sounded as if they were already giving up, and Daisy refused to do the same. “There’s still hope. We have two days and the entire city on the lookout for Dirty Duke. We could definitely find him before the two days are over. Besides, even if you were to hand yourselves over to Dirty Duke, without Fendrich, he’s still going to set off explosions across the city. This is very selfless of you guys, but unfortunately it won’t work.”

Hacksaw nodded. “It’s too bad we don’t know exactly where Fendrich is. If I had to guess where he is now, he’s probably at one of his secret shelters, but he never told us where those were located. I’m sorry. Is there any other way we can help?”

Daisy shook her head. “I think it’s best if you still hide here. That’s how you can help.”

Hacksaw nodded. “We’ll do that. But if we ever find Fendrich...we will do what we have to in order to keep the city safe.”

* * *

The first day of the huge city-wide search, nothing came up. It was now evening, and Fendrich and Dirty Duke had not been spotted anywhere, and they hadn’t been able to find any sort of bombs planted in the city. Daisy had been frantically trying to find any clues for how Dirty Duke planned to blow up the city, but also had no luck. She searched all the places she would’ve thought to place a bomb for maximum damage, but nothing had come up. Did this mean Dirty Duke was bluffing about the detonations, or was the threat lurking out of sight? 

Daisy was now hanging out in the station, which was basically empty, with everyone still out searching. She had given up her search, because very soon, night would fall, and everyone’s searching capabilities would be limited by flashlights. Daisy thought it would be best if she hung out here in case anyone arrived back with news. 

The door opened behind her, and she spun around, expecting to see an officer. Instead, she saw it was Snake, illuminated by the setting sun. 

Snake walked up to her.“I know things are crazy, but we need to chat.”

Daisy tilted her head to the side. “Alright then. What do you need to tell me?”

Snake folded his arms and bit his lip. “I...really owe you an apology. During my travels, I had a lot of time to think over what I said and did to you and I came to understand that I wasn’t being fair with you on a lot of things. I’m sorry that I left you, especially during the time when you needed me most. You also had every right to accept help from Duke. I know this sounds stupid, but I was afraid that if you accepted help from him, you would completely abandon me. I-I was also jealous that you had someone else you cared about, especially since it was Duke of all people. But I was wrong to think that way. You have been the only person I’ve ever felt a connection with, and I didn’t fully know how to handle that. I’m sorry for that.”

He continued. “I also need to apologize about Dirty Duke, that’s all my fault too. It was because of my distaste for Duke that Dirty Duke exists in the first place. I took away your friend, and put a monster in his place, and now I’ve messed up everyone’s lives big time. I don’t expect your forgiveness, or anyone’s forgiveness, but I just wanted you to know I’m sorry.” He guiltily looked at the ground.

This was the first time Snake had outright apologized to her on anything, and she was surprised by how genuine it was. Warmth filled her body. “I appreciate your apology Snake. And I forgive you. I won’t let anything keep us apart from now on. But I need to make it clear to you that Dirty Duke is not your fault. He has chosen his own path. And I know we can get Duke back, somehow.”

Snake softly smiled at Daisy, and some of the guilt left his expression. “Thanks.” He looked at the entrance. “I should really be getting back to my searching. The city is counting on us to apprehend Dirty Duke.”

He walked back to the doors giving her a nod goodbye before he opened them and exited the room. 

Daisy grabbed a chair and sat down. No one had arrived yet, and she couldn’t think of anything to do. Her phone was only to be used in emergencies, and there was nobody around to talk to. Maybe a break wasn’t a good idea. There was still about an hour before night, and they were running out of time. Maybe she should join Snake and continue the search.

As she got up from the chair, there was a clank of something that fell at her feet. She saw the shimmer of a key with a tag attached to it. She picked it up to get a better look at it. Upon examination, she noticed the words “neurogenesis experiment” written on the tag.

What did that mean? Daisy was able to recall that “neuro” was linked to the brain. Did this have to do with Dirty Duke? She decided to look around to find any clues. 

She searched around Tom Bennett’s desk, but only saw neatly stacked papers and a picture of Tom Bennett’s family. There was nothing out-of-place on his orderly desk. She walked around, scanning the other desks, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

She walked over to Duke’s old desk and saw papers scattered across it haphazardly. He never was a tidy person, but Daisy didn’t mind, she was much the same way. His desk had collected dust from many days of neglect. It ached her that her friend had been gone for so long, and seeing his empty workspace, especially the dusty Cubby doll, brought up a fresh wave of grief. 

She picked up the Cubby from his desk and blew off the particles. She coughed as dust got in her lungs. Once the dust particles settled, Daisy noticed a sewn scar on his right shoulder. This wasn’t just any toy. This was Duke’s childhood Cubby. 

The scar had been her fault. She had accidentally ripped Cubby’s shoulder by pulling him from Duke’s arms. She had felt so bad that she went back later and gave Duke a sewing kit and helped him reattach the arm. They were young, so the stitching was really poor, but it appeared someone went back and did a better job. 

Daisy then realized something. If this Cubby had dust all over him, he must’ve not been touched in a while, meaning this couldn’t have been the Cubby Rooky tried to use to bring Duke back. An idea formed in her head. Maybe she was just desperate, but could this specific Cubby be the key to bringing Duke back? It would make sense… This was the Cubby that was linked to his childhood memories. Maybe if she reminded him of the stories attached to this doll, Duke would finally remember himself. She held on tightly to the Cubby doll, as it was her last form of hope, both for getting her friend back, and for preventing Dirty Duke from carrying out his terrifying threats. 

Speaking of Dirty Duke...she remembered the mysterious neurogenesis key and continued her search. She checked all the desks without success, so she made her way to the vault. It was no longer locked because the mechanism on the door had been powered by electricity. She opened it to see various artifacts that luckily hadn’t been stolen because of the lack of power. She saw familiar objects like the diamond encrusted chainsaw, and even the Doublecross ruby that Dirty Duke tried to steal. If only he was still interested in treasure, then maybe they could have bribed him out of detonating the city. But Daisy knew there would be no stopping his plan that easily.

A safe with a keyhole caught her eye. She glanced at the key she was holding. It seemed to be the right size. Her heart beat faster as she placed it in the hole and twisted it. Next, she pulled the handle, which gave no resistance. Before officially opening it, she looked behind her to make sure no don’t was watching. She knew what she was doing looked suspicious, but if this had to do with Dirty Duke, she had to know. She got the safe open and out came a gust of cold air. This safe seemed to be a fridge. 

Inside the safe was only one item: a syringe. Curious, she reached to grab it.

“Daisy! Get away from that!”

She cringed as she turned her head to see Tom Bennett running up to her. He took the key and quickly shut the safe door, locking it.

“What are you doing with this key?” Tom asked sternly.

“What am I doing? How about what are you doing with this brain syringe?” Daisy defended.

Tom sighed. “I didn’t want you to find out about this. But...I guess I have no choice but to tell you.”

* * *

Tom took Daisy to a room off to the side with a chair and a table. It was like an interrogation room, but instead of being tied up and interrogated, she was talking with Tom Bennett as an equal. That was a first. 

Tom pulled out a chair and sat on the other end. He tapped his fingers on the desk before speaking. “Daisy, we never meant you to see that. It’s very experimental, but it may be necessary.”

“What even is it?”

“I’ll have Dr. Wexler and Ravenhurst explain that. They were the ones who made it.”

Soon Wexler and Ravenhurst came into the room. Dr. Wexler was the one to explain.

“Me and Dr. Ravenhurst decided to invent a liquid that will help us stop Dirty Duke. I know we are rocket scientists, but Ravenhurst also has experience with biology. Plus we are geniuses.”

Ravenhurst nudged him with her elbow. “Wexy, just get on with it.”

He cleared his throat. “So, basically what we invented is a fluid that can be injected into Dirty Duke that will trigger neurogenesis to occur. It also incorporates the ideas of neuroplasticity. In theory, we should fix this Dirty Duke problem.”

Ravenhurst made her way into the conversation. “What he means in simpler terms is that if we inject Dirty Duke with that fluid, it will fix the damaged brain cells and repair his memory. It’s very new technology, so there is always room for complications…”

Daisy was getting uncomfortable as Ravenhurst continued to explain. “One of the biggest concerns is that for this process to work, it will need “restart” his brain, just like how you’d restart an electronic device. But to restart the brain, we will basically be putting him in another, brief coma. Duke’s brain has been so damaged that we don’t know if he will even wake up after we restart it.”

“What are the chances of that happening?” Daisy asked, her voice urgent.

“Well, the injection will certainly make him lose his consciousness, so it’s all dependent on how Duke’s brain will hold up. It has been pretty damaged though…”

Daisy stood up quickly. “Are you kidding me? You can’t do that! We can’t take a chance like that!”

Tom tried to reassure her. “After Cubby failed, this is the only option to get Duke back.”

“Or you could kill him!”

The room fell silent. How could they even consider this? Duke was very vulnerable. His body definitely wouldn’t be able to handle something like that. There had to be something else.

“I have another idea that’s much less risky! Let’s use this Cubby instead!” She held up the plushie she was still holding. 

Tom shook his head. “We already tried Cubby.”

“But this one’s different: it’s Duke’s own Cubby. If we use this one, the one he’s had since childhood, he will be able to recall those memories, and remember who he is. And then, our whole crisis will be taken care of.”

Dr Wexler frowned. “His brain cells have been too damaged. There is no way to access his memories with outside triggers. Besides, it’s not just his hippocampus that was injured. His temporal and frontal lobes have also sustained damage, and we believe that’s made him very emotionally unstable. The only way to repair his entire brain is with our injection.”

“How do you know that for sure? Besides, don’t you think it’s possible that, I don’t know, the emotional instability is because he’s  _ Dirty Duke?  _ I don’t think fixing his brain with such a dangerous method is necessary! All he needs is to remember who he is, and he will go back to normal, and I think this Cubby is our best bet. Would it really hurt to try? Surely that's better than this plan that will hurt Duke!”

“It is totally possible that Duke won’t get injured at all. We could completely fix him.” Tom replied

“What if it doesn’t work? What if he doesn’t wake up?”

Tom fell silent for a moment. He folded his arms and looked at the ground. “Yes, that is risky. But we have only one more day until Dirty Duke plans to destroy our city with explosions, and we are running out of options. We have to keep the city safe. It’s what Duke would have wanted.”

“Stop saying you think you know what Duke wants! None of us know! Seriously, why can’t we try Cubby first? Or even lock Dirty Duke away again, and keep a closer eye on him? That way, Dirty Duke will no longer be a threat, and we can have more time to think of a better plan or even have more time to develop a safer brain syringe!”

“The chances of Cubby working are basically zero. And without power, we can’t effectively put Dirty Duke behind bars. Besides, when Dirty Duke comes forward tomorrow, it will be a very delicate situation. We need something that will be quick and fast, before he destroys the city. Daisy, we need a plan that actually has a chance of working! And this is all we have.”

“I can’t believe none of you guys see how terrible of a plan this is! I won’t let you go through with it when there’s other options we haven’t tried yet that are less risky!”

Tom groaned. “See, this is why we didn’t want to tell you…”

“Oh, you didn’t want to tell me because you were thinking that killing Duke is the best idea?! Well no wonder! Because your priorities are terrible! I can’t believe you’d even consider a plan where you’d harm Duke above all other plans!”

“You think I  _ want  _ to hurt Duke?” Tom unexpectedly raised his voice. “I’m only doing what I have to! In some ways, I am responsible for Dirty Duke. I took away New Car. Maybe if I hadn’t done that, Duke wouldn’t have gotten in his wreck! But that’s exactly why we have to risk it. I refuse to leave the city in danger because of my mistakes!”

The distress in Tom’s voice took Daisy off guard, quelling some of her anger. She was silent for a moment. Tom’s stubbornness was not going away. There was nothing more she could say to convince him out of it. Fear and defeat washed over her. “Well be that as it may, I still don’t stand behind this. You are only going to regret this.”

Tom took a calming breath, wiping away sweat off his forehead. “Fighting over this does us no good when there’s people to find. I’ve already told you everything I could about the plan. If you could, go back to figuring out what’s going on with the detonations.”

Daisy stood up from the chair and made her way to the door. She couldn’t help but look back at them one last time. “Please don’t do it. It’s going to hurt Duke.”

“This isn’t your decision to make.”


	13. The Only Option

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter is a little intense and sad

Daisy paced next to the door steps to the police station. It was night and therefore it was dangerous to be outside, but she needed some air. She had a flashlight pointed at the ground, so she could at least see a little bit. 

The buildings around her were nothing but dark shapes silhouetted against the sky. Oddly enough, the brightest thing she could see was the night sky, which was illuminated by billions of dazzling stars. It wasn’t a sight she was used to, since the city lights normally drowned out the stars, but she couldn’t enjoy it. 

Only an hour remained before Dirty Duke would demand the city hand over the crooks to him. Daisy couldn’t believe all their plans had fallen through. Dirty Duke was still at large, Fendrich seemed to have disappeared from the city, and she had found nothing hinting at any large-scale explosions in the city. Daisy felt as though she was hyperventilating as the ticking clock came closer to their deadline. 

The silence in the city wasn’t helping her mood either. To prepare for the worst, the citizens were hunkering down in the safest places in their houses, bracing for potential explosions. There were so many innocent people and Daisy couldn’t fathom how Dirty Duke was ruthless enough to put everyone in danger all for the sake of his vengeance. Daisy had to do something about this. But right now, the only thing she could do was wait for Dirty Duke to appear before she tried executing her plans.

“Hey, Daisy.”

Daisy looked up and saw Snake standing close. He looked somber, but he gave her a small smile. “How are you holding up?”

Daisy stopped pacing, but gritted her teeth. “I can’t sit here and let Dirty Duke threaten this city. But I also can’t let the police go through with their back-up plan.”

Snake looked puzzled. “Back-up plan?”

“Tom Bennett told me he wants to use a syringe with a liquid that could bring Duke’s memories back, but it could also kill him. I think it’s too risky. I know time is running out, but I have an idea that is much less risky and I think, has a better probability of actually working to stop Dirty Duke.”

“What’s your plan?”

Daisy looked at the Cubby doll she was holding. “I’m going to try using Duke’s childhood Cubby. That specific Cubby has a lot of memories attached to it. It’s gotta work. I just need to get to him before those who want to use the syringe find him. And before Dirty Duke harms the city.”

Snake moved closer to her and gave her a reassuring look. “Sounds like something you can’t do alone. I still stand by what I said about us making a great team. Together, we have a chance to reach Duke before anyone else. I’ll help you out in any way I can.”

Her situation felt a bit less bleak now that she had Snake by her side. “Thank you. I feel better knowing I have you.”

Daisy opened her arms and Snake moved into her embrace. She had never hugged Snake before, but now it felt right. It was nice to see Snake without his fangs, and to see a caring side of him. She was grateful for the opportunity to finally be able to work with him not because of treasure, but because they cared about each other.

As she went to let go of him, they noticed a brief flash of light go off on top of the Fenrdich-Sinclair arch tower.

Her heart rate accelerated. Could that be caused by Dirty Duke?

She glanced at Snake. “I thought we still had an hour.”

“We don’t know for sure if that was caused by Dirty Duke.” Snake said. Hold on, I think I can find something in the station that’ll help us see.”

He went inside for a moment but then came back out with a pair of black binoculars. He looked through them, but after a while, he looked frustrated.

“These darn things won’t work. It’s all blurry.”

Daisy cleared her throat to get Snake’s attention. She pointed at his eye patch. 

“Oh right. That might be doing it.” 

He passed the binoculars to Daisy. She adjusted the lenses to get a clear shot. Once she was in focus, she nearly dropped the binoculars.

“It is Dirty Duke. He’s setting something up, I think? I can barely tell. There’s light up there, but now it’s too dim.”

Snake looked back at her, worried. “Are we too late?

”I don’t know.” She clutched the Cubby doll close. “But I have to go after him.”

“Go then. At this rate, you’ll definitely reach him before the others. They probably won’t be on the lookout for Dirty Duke until it gets closer to his deadline. Right now, they’re too busy preparing.”

She hesitated. There was one other part of her plan she needed to do first. “I need to get something in the station first. But...I don’t really want the officers to notice.”

“Sounds like you need a distraction, then. Don’t worry. I’ll make it a good one.”

“Thank you Snake.”

Snake motioned for her to go into the station. She slipped through the front doors. A few officers looked at her, but it wasn’t suspicious to see her in the station, even at night. A fizzing sound went off behind her, signaling the start of Snake’s distraction. Everyone in the station turned their flashlights and pointed it at Snake. Daisy used the opportunity to quietly make her way deeper into the station, overhearing the ruckus Snake was causing. 

“Bro, what do you think you're going to do with that soda?” Wheelie asked.

“I’m just thirsty. That’s all.”

Tom’s voice next. “We have plenty of water bottles. I just recommend you put that soda down.”

“What? Are you afraid I’m going to soda blast you?” Snake said, shaking his soda. There was a much louder fizzing sound. “Oops.” Then came the sound of Snake throwing the can.

Chaos erupted behind her.

It sounded like Snake’s distraction had been successful. Daisy approached the vault, shaking with nervousness and adrenaline.She found the diamond-encrusted chainsaw on a middle shelf and let the sounds of the officer’s panic mask the sound of the chainsaw going off. She cut a hole into the safe and grabbed the syringe. 

Daisy pushed down the fear that built within her. She was breaking the law by stealing this syringe, and she didn’t know if she was still on her final straw. But she couldn’t let them use this before she tried Cubby. She briefly debated what to do with it, but her instincts told her to keep it with her, just in case. In dire situations like these, no option should be completely discounted. She pocketed it.

Orange soda had exploded all over the walls and floors. Classic Snake. She saw many officers piled on top of the can, as if they were tackling a grenade. Daisy made eye contact with Snake. They shared a nod before she discreetly left, putting on her helmet.

She hopped on her motorcycle and, trying to ignore her fear about Dirty Duke’s threats, and the consequences of failure, she drove off down the street.

* * *

  
  


Snake held down the fort back at the station. It took everyone a few minutes to stop the can of soda and to clean up the mess. Sure, maybe he had gone a little overboard, but it had worked as a distraction. With the soda cleaned off, they went back to their preparations, unaware of what Daisy had done.

Fifteen minutes had passed when suddenly, a bright light shone from the Fendrich and Sinclair arch. 

Wheelie ran up to the window. “Bro, could that be...”

Tom and the others came over to the window to look at the light. Tom grabbed binoculars and looked out the window. 

“Biscuits! It’s Dirty Duke all right.” He picked up his walkie-talkie. “All units, it’s time. Get to the Fendrich and Sinclair arch as soon as possible!”

Wheelie glanced at Tom. “What about the syringe?”

“I’ll get that.”

Snake watched the whole station scramble with their flashlights trying to complete their last-minute preparations. He hoped Daisy would reach Duke first. This hadn’t given her a lot of time to run ahead.

Tom yelled from the vault room. “The syringe! It’s gone!”

Everyone ran to the vault room and congregated in front of the empty vault. Snake stifled a smirk. 

Wheelie inspected the hole carved on the side of the safe. “What happened dude?”

“It was Daisy. She must’ve stolen it.” Tom replied.

He then turned to his coworkers. “Has anyone seen Daisy?”

They all shook their heads. Tom locked eyes with Snake and approached him with a pointing finger. “Alright, Snake. Where is Daisy?”

“She left.”

Tom had a dismayed look on his face. “This is not going to go well for Daisy. Dirty Duke is dangerous. She’ll get herself killed!”

* * *

Daisy was completely exhausted. Her legs were shaking with every step she took up the building. With the elevators out, she had no choice but make the grueling trek up the building’s flight of stairs. But desperation overcame her exhaustion. She had to stop Dirty Duke before he detonated the city.

She finally reached the top floor, and stopped at the foot of the stairs to the roof, trying to control her breathing. She didn’t want to immediately give away her position, so she waited until her breathing quieted down. As she did so, she confirmed she had everything she needed. She had the Cubby doll, she had the syringe she’d stolen to keep it from Tom’s grasp, and she even brought dynamite for good measure. She was as ready as she could be to face Dirty Duke.

She opened the door that exposed her to the outside of the roof, and a freezing breeze blew around her. A huge spotlight had been set up, sending a beacon of light up into the black sky. That was new. Dirty Duke must’ve turned it on while Daisy has been ascending the tower. In front of it stood Dirty Duke, with his back to her, a shadow against the bright light. He still seemed to be inspecting the spotlight.

She carefully stepped on what was a window. The majority of the arch was made up of windows. She refused to look down, and instead kept her eyes in front of her, approaching Dirty Duke quietly—

“Daisy Kaboom,” He turned around. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

That made Daisy jump a little bit. She didn’t know that Dirty Duke already saw her, but now that her cover was blown, she had to proceed with her plan. There was no going back.

“Duke, please stop this. Just remember who you are!”

Daisy stepped closer to Dirty Duke. He was still wearing his sleeveless blue biker jacket, and his arm was still wrapped in bandaging. The light reflected off his cloudy eye. 

“Oh I’ll stop this. If you’ve brought me who I want, that is. And, well, if not…” Dirty Duke held up a small remote with one button. “This remote will activate all the dynamite I have planted around the city. Everywhere but this tower will be affected.” 

Daisy gasped. “Where did you plant them?!”

“I’m honestly surprised you never figured that out. I was afraid you would ruin my plans by discovering where they were, and I was ready to silence you if that happened. Thankfully you didn’t think to look in one crucial place. I suppose you hid your dynamite so well, even you forgot about its location.”

It felt like the ground was lurching under Daisy. “The sewers. You hid them in the sewers didn’t you.”

“During one of my chases, I escaped through the sewers and came across a huge cache of dynamite hidden away. I assume that was your dynamite, Daisy? Next time, I’d advise you to be careful where you hide your explosives.” 

Guilt struck Daisy. She’d unintentionally provided Dirty Duke the perfect weapon to terrorize the city with. “Don’t do this, please! There are so many innocent people!”

“But it’s just so easy. All I have to do is press this button. Unless the crooks are brought to me, there’s no way to stop this.” 

“You’re wrong. This will stop you.” Daisy reached in her jacket to grab the Cubby doll. She slowly approached Dirty Duke with her arm outstretched, so that he could see Cubby.

“Duke, do you remember this doll? This was the Cubby you grew up with. He’s been through everything with you. He has watched you grow up and accomplish many things. He’s proud of you, but he doesn’t want to see you like this. This isn’t you! He wants Duke back!” 

Daisy felt herself get a little emotional as she projected her own feelings about Duke through Cubby. Dirty Duke slowly came closer to her. He was close enough that she could touch him. Daisy pointed at the scar on Cubby’s right arm. 

“Look, Cubby was injured just like you. I helped you fix him, and now, I am here to help fix you. Don’t you remember?”

Dirty Duke’s expression was difficult to read. But he didn’t look angry. He reached out and grabbed Cubby. He gently looked at the doll, lost in thought. He maneuvered the arm to look at the scar. He looked at the doll's scar, then at his. They were even on the same shoulder. He held the toy in both of his hands before he looked back up at Daisy.

“That’s so weird.” He paused. “I...I think I _do_ remember that.”

Daisy beamed. “You do?!”

He looked at Cubby and at Daisy. He did that a few times before he spoke again. “How strange.”

‘Duke, are your memories back? Do you remember anything else?”

He stared at her as if he were seeing a completely different person. “There’s a memory. Right on the edge of my mind. What is it…?”

His eyes widened. “The boat.” He clamped his eyes shut. “There were explosions, and cold water, and--and…” His eyes snapped open. 

“You.” Rage filled Dirty Duke’s voice.

Daisy took a step back. “Duke, that wasn’t me!”

He shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. “It...wasn’t?” He looked off with a conflicted look on his face. “No, you’re right. Duke just _thought_ it was you. He was so angry about what you did. I remember that. I _feel_ that.” He looked off at the city with a glare. “But Duke was focusing his anger on the wrong person.”

His grip tightened on Cubby. “Fendrich! He and his underlings were the one who almost killed me! THEY TRIED TO KILL ME! ”

Daisy held out her hands in a calming gesture. “Hey. Calm down, Duke. You made it out alive, and that’s all that matters. Why don’t you try to remember more?”

He gritted his teeth. “No. I’m not Duke.” He threw Cubby to the ground. “Duke wasn’t willing to seek true retribution for what they’d done to him. But I will not let their miserable lives go on a moment longer! I will take them down, even if I have to bring down the entire city with them!”

“No Duke.” Daisy could feel her hope shattering completely. “Please. Come back to me.”

Dirty Duke narrowed his eyes. “Duke is gone.” 

Daisy was petrified. Tom and Dr. Wexler had been right all along. Cubby had helped him regain some memories, but his brain was still hijacked by Dirty Duke. And his sudden rage made him very dangerous.

Pain squeezed Daisy’s heart. She’d failed, and Duke was still lost.

“Daisy.” His voice had a dark undertone that snapped Daisy back to the urgency of the situation. “I have just one question for you. Did your city find the crooks?”

She gulped, then took a step back.

“So you didn’t.” He held up the remote, sending a jolt of terror through Daisy. “You know what this means.” His breathing became ragged. “I’ll take matters into my own hands right now, and end their lives myself!”

Daisy had to act fast. A burst of determination overcame her. She may have lost the fight to get Duke back, but she couldn’t give up saving the city. 

She reached in her jacket and grabbed a stick of dynamite and a lighter. She quickly flicked the lighter, bringing a small flame to life. She moved the flame to light the fuse--

Dirty Duke grabbed her wrist. He tightened his grip with so much force that it caused her to drop the dynamite and let out a sound of pain. 

“You are so predictable, Daisy Kaboom.”

He moved his grip to her jacket and forced her to back up. They were dangerously close to the edge, and with a few steps, he had backed her as far as they could go. Dirty Duke caused her to lean precariously over the edge. She planted her boots firmly into the ground. 

“I will not allow you to stop me,” Dirty Duke said. “Even if that means I have to drop you from this roof.” 

Terror stabbed her heart. Far below her, the power outage had turned the city into an ocean of black, where she could not see the bottom. She looked back up at Dirty Duke. She felt him loosen his grip slightly on her jacket. She scrambled her legs, as now they were barely able to reach the edge of the building. She desperately wondered how she would get out alive when she felt the weight of something in her pocket.

The syringe.

Dirty Duke reached in his jacket to grab the remote, then glanced over into the abyss of darkness.

“I’ll spare you for a moment, just so you’ll be able to see the explosions as your dynamite goes off.” He hovered his finger over the button. “This ends now.”

There was no escape for her. She knew what she had to do. She had to sacrifice her own life and risk Duke’s life to save everyone.

She quickly twisted her body to reach inside her jacket and grabbed the syringe. She slipped the cap off and closed her eyes as she jabbed it into his side. Daisy braced herself, waiting for Dirty Duke’s grip to loosen.

Everything was silent. She opened her eyes to see Dirty Duke looking shocked. He dropped his remote, but still was barely holding onto Daisy. He swayed a little as the dizziness hit him.

He shook his head, collecting himself for a moment, then he stared at Daisy. He no longer looked angry. In fact, he looked like he had a spark of humanity in him. Was that Duke? 

“Daisy?” He said in a very quiet shaky voice.

She knew that it was Duke who said that. She could recognize the tone of his voice even though it was quiet. Daisy knew that was her last time seeing her friend, but she was glad she could see him for even a moment. Before she could say anything to respond, his eyes rolled to the back of his skull and he loosened his grip on Daisy. His legs gave in and he fell forward with Daisy. 

Her stomach lurched as she descended through the darkness with Duke. The cold wind violently blew past her ears as she quickly accelerated downward. The darkness made it impossible for her to see how close she was to hitting the ground, and the only thing that gave her any sense of direction were the stars above. She closed her eyes as she waited to hit the ground. 

Finally she felt impact. It wasn't as hard as she was expecting—it was bouncy. She opened her eyes and saw two helicopters above, shining their lights on her. Her fall had been stopped by the net between them. 

Once she collected herself enough to realize she wasn’t dead, she frantically looked around for Duke. He was laying on the other end of the net completely motionless. She tried to crawl her way over to him, but the net didn’t allow her to move. The helicopters blared as they lowered them gently to the ground. 

Once they were on solid ground, she quickly went over to Duke. His body laid over the net against the road. She finally reached him and put her hand on his chest, but with how much her hand trembled, she couldn’t feel anything. 

She used a good amount of force to try to shake him awake.

“Please, Duke. You’ve gotta wake up. We’re safe now.”

Nothing. He laid there with his eyes closed. Daisy violently shook her head as Duke laid unresponsive to her. 

“Duke! Wake up!”

Tears flooded her vision, making her unable to see. She felt an arm wrap around her. She was shaky as she wiped the tear from her face. Snake was by her side. He looked at Duke and lowered his hat to cover his teary eye. Daisy turned back to Duke and grabbed his head. It was heavy, but she brought his forehead to hers. Her salty tears transferred to Dukes cheek.

She was barely able to speak. “I’m sorry.” 

She held his head close to hers for a moment. She had tried so hard to save Duke, but in the end, there was nothing she could do to save him. 

Suddenly, she felt a breath reach her face. Duke let out a small groan as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked tired, but looked eyes with her.

“Daisy? Is that you?”

Finally, she was able to respond to his question. “Yes, Duke. It’s me.”

She hugged him tightly, and after a moment, he had enough energy to hug her back. 

“I’m sorry…” Duke said as a weak whisper in her ear.

“Don’t you dare apologize to me. You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

He had enough energy to sit up and to tightly wrap his arms around Daisy. Her tears changed to tears of happiness. Lots of people came up and crowded around them, Wheelie and Tom among them. They looked at Duke with overjoyed expressions.

“Duke! You’re back!” Wheelie exclaimed. He threw himself at Duke to hug him. Tom also came in for a hug. 

Daisy couldn’t stop smiling at the scene. Her friend was finally back. Snake looked at Daisy and wiped a tear from his eye. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“You did it Daisy. We won.”

Daisy leaned into his embrace, letting the joy of the moment overtake her.

Snake looked over at Duke and his expression changed to one of guilt. “If anyone needs to be apologizing right now, it’s me. Duke, I am so sorry for manipulating you into Dirty Duke in the first place. That was incredibly wrong of me to do.” 

Duke looked up at him. “Thank you for your apology.” 

Snake looked away. “It was the least I could do.”

Duke then blinked in surprise, then looked at Daisy. “Wait.”

“What is it?” Daisy asked. 

“You were innocent all along.”

It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about. “Oh, you mean about the ship? Yeah.”

He broke eye contact with her. “Well then, I _do_ need to apologize to you. About that, at least. I feel terrible that I doubted you like that.”

“You had no way of knowing it wasn’t me! Fendrich set me up too well.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“Duke, I’m just glad to have you back! But since I know it will make you feel better, I want it to be clear that I forgive you.”

“...For everything? Even for all the awful stuff Dirty Duke did?” 

“Like I said, you had nothing to apologize about. That wasn’t you!”

“I just, I still have his memories.” His expression grew haunted. “It feels so real to me, like I was there. Like that _was_ me.”

The guilt and pain in his voice stabbed Daisy’s heart. “Duke. I know you, and you are nothing like Dirty Duke. Don’t you remember when I told you that weeks ago? The fact that you feel so guilty about Dirty Duke proves my point. Dirty Duke had no remorse. You have more remorse than you deserve. Please, let us forgive you.”

Tears filled his eyes. “Alright.”

They hugged again. 

“I missed you so much Duke. You’re back. And that’s all that matters to me.”

Duke hugged her tighter.

* * *

**Epilouge:**

Duke poked his suit button through the hole. He was wearing a blue suit coat with one button attached in the middle, over a grey turtleneck sweater. He turned out the lights in his bathroom. The dark room reminded him of the time the city had been without power, thanks to Dirty Duke. Thankfully, Duke had known where Dirty Duke had hidden the machine, and with that out of the way, the power had come back. 

Duke made it over to his living room. On the couch sat a large suitcase completely packed with clothes and a few items. He grabbed it by the handle and made the way to the door. He flicked off the light and looked at his house one last time. He smiled as he closed the door and made his way over to the car parked in his driveway.

“Hey, Duke! Are you ready to go?” the car asked.

“I am, New Car.”

He heaved his suitcase into the trunk before he got into the car and locked in his seatbelt. He started driving with the assistance of New Car. Since what had happened, he became a lot more cautious with his driving, and he appreciated New Car’s help with that.

“You know,” New Car said, “I’ve only been back with you for a month. I’m really gonna miss you when you're gone.” 

“I’ll miss you too. But I need to start a new chapter in my life.”

The rest of the drive was pretty quiet between them.

“Hey, New Car. Can you take over the driving?”

“Sure, thing.”

He took his foot off of the gas and his hands off the wheel. He glanced out at the city, waving at everyone he drove by. He was going to miss every single one of them. Shirley was in the garbage truck next to him. She unrolled her window and Duke did the same.

“Are you really leaving now, Duke?”

“Yeah, but I’ll come visit a lot. I’m not leaving forever.”

“Good. You know, I’m actually going to miss picking up your messes.”

Duke let out a small laugh. “I don’t think you’ll miss it that much.”

He continued driving, admiring the streets he shared so many memories in. The street he was driving past was the same one where he met Snake for the first time, loitering with Daisy. Months ago, he would travel through the streets quickly, but now he was taking in the view slowly. Driving like this made him realize how many little things he’d never noticed about the city. He made sure every detail stuck in his mind. It would be a while before he saw this place again, and he wanted to enjoy the moment. 

He drove past the fire department, waving at Freya and the other firefighters he’d worked closely with. He and New Car drove over the bridge and finally reached the docks. He stepped out and grabbed his suitcase from the trunk. Wheelie came rolling up to him on his skateboard. 

“Dude, I can’t believe you’re really leaving.”

Bittersweetness rose in Duke. “It hardly seems real to me too. But I couldn’t have continued my job as a cop. I can’t really shoulder roll anymore, and I can’t risk another head injury. But don’t worry, I’ll enjoy my time on the ocean. Captain Facepatch will be a good mentor. Besides, at least I got to experience one last exciting thing on the job.”

He remembered the recent stakeout that had resulted in Fendrich’s capture. It had actually been Daisy’s idea to set up a situation where Fendrich would be tempted out of his hiding place by offering Facepatch”s real treasure. The golden door knobs were the perfect lure. With the threat of Dirty Duke gone, Fendrich had let his guard down and fell right into their trap. Now he was in prison, where he belonged. 

“That was pretty rad. Glad you could help us out with one last case.”

“Of course.” Duke sighed. “I will miss you both.”

Wheelie smiled. “Come here, bro.”

Duke and Wheelie hugged for a moment before Duke turned to say goodbye to Tom.

“It’s been nice having you on our team, Duke,” Tom said, “We will all miss you too.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

He shook his hand before he stepped closer to the boat, but he was quickly stopped by a distressed voice behind him.

“Duke! Don’t go!”

Randomly enough, it was Shifty Buyerstuff who came running towards him with teary eyes. He ran and collapsed in Duke's arms. Duke didn’t know how to react, and just awkwardly patted his back.

“I didn’t think you were going to miss me,” Duke said, a little startled.

“Well, I have a parting gift.” Shifty whipped out a ukulele, the same ukulele Duke had always wanted from his shop. It was a nice brown color, with a sleek, black neck.

“Wow, Shifty.” he said, stunned. “I really don’t know what to say…”

“Just take it.” Shifty quickly handed it to Duke and ran away crying.

Duke had no idea he had this much of an impact on the citizens. But he knew they certainly impacted him. He wondered for the longest time whether accepting Facepatch’s apprenticeship was the best decision. But he realized that some quiet time from the craziness of the city would be a good change. Plus, he wouldn’t be out at sea every day. He would be able to visit quite often. He continued to approach the boat, but then locked eyes with Snake and Daisy. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually leaving.” Daisy said.

“Yeah.” Duke sighed. “I’m really going to miss you guys.” 

Months ago he would’ve never guessed that his best friends would be two people who were constantly making his job more difficult. But now he couldn’t imagine better friends. They made it very difficult for him to leave.

“How’s your scars?” Daisy asked.

Duke rubbed his right arm. “They’re fine. I don’t need to bandage them anymore. Although I probably shouldn’t shoulder roll on them though.”

Daisy and Snake smiled at him before Daisy responded. “I’m glad to hear that. Still sucks that you can’t shoulder roll anymore.”

“It’s all right. I’ll be occupied by my adventures at sea… But what about you? Will you hold up well?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Harl is always needing help at the junkyard. Plus, me and Snake moved in together, so I no longer have to deal with finding a good living situation. You definitely don’t have to worry about me.”

Duke looked at them. “And remember, just because I’m not a cop anymore doesn’t mean I want you guys to get into trouble,” he joked.

Daisy smiled mischievously. “We can’t guarantee anything.”

They fell silent as they didn’t want to let go of the moment. But after accepting the inevitable, Daisy broke the silence.

“Well, we wanted to join the bandwagon with Shifty and give you a few things before you board.” 

Daisy nudged Snake. He handed Duke a black eye patch.

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, but I thought it was fitting because you’re now a pirate. It’s also just a little thing to remember me by.”

Duke put the eye patch over his scarred eye. “Thanks, Snake. I’ll definitely use it, starting right now!”

Daisy then handed Duke a silver necklace with an anchor on it.

“I thought I’d give you this so you remember that you are anchored here.” 

“Wow, that was cheesy for you, Daisy.” Duke joked as he put on the necklace.

“Shut up and give me a hug.”

Duke set down his suitcase and wrapped his arms around her. He had been able to keep his emotions stable until now, and he couldn’t stop a few tears from forming in his eyes. He peeked his eye open and waved for Snake to join in. Snake was the tallest of the three, so he completely wrapped his arms around Duke and Daisy, locking them into the hug. 

They stayed there for a while, almost forgetting about the future. But it was time for Duke to accept his new life. He let go of them, wiping a few tears from his face. 

“I think Facepatch is waiting for you.” Daisy said, smiling in a way that contrasted with her tears.

He looked up to the bridge that ascended to the boat. Facepatch was waving at him from the top. Duke picked up his suitcase and started making his way up the ramp. He got up to the top and joined Facepatch at the entrance of the boat. He put his hand out so his new captain would shake it, and Facepatch shook back enthusiastically.

“Welcome, aboard Duke.”

Facepatch let go of Duke’s hand. “I’ve got someone else manning the boat for departure, so that way we can wave goodbye to everyone from the deck.”

After a while of getting the boat prepared, the boat honked, and they began to slowly drift away from the land. Duke and Facepatch waved at the crowd. Duke waved at his old co-workers, friends he shared memories with, and those who never gave up on him. Soon, those people became just small dots on the shore. 

Duke noticed the silhouette of the city, framed in front of the setting sun. It reminded him of his earlier cruise, but this time, he was able to enjoy the view. The way the sun’s rays shone through the Fendrich-and-Sinclair arch was gorgeous. He was going to miss it, but he knew he was leaving it in good hands. 

Facepatch still stayed with him, and soaked in the scene. He glanced at Duke’s items.

“Do you know how to play that ukulele?”

Duke nodded while picking up the instrument. He decided to strum a few cords as the city shrunk from his sight. Facepatch and Duke stayed out like that for a while, just watching the sun go down while softly playing a few sounds. Eventually the city had completely disappeared. 

Duke looked on to the opposite horizon. The open seas awaited him.

**The End**


End file.
